Enslaved Angel
by LuvversLuvvie
Summary: Naruto gets sold at an auction as a sex slave.  It turns out that his new Master, Sasuke, does not want to hurt his angel but rather protect him from Sound Industries who try to steal him back.
1. Auction

**The Angel Slave**

**SasuNaru 3**

**Summary: First part loosely based off of Okane No Gai. Sasuke finds himself at a particular auction where the last item sold is a frightened Naruto. My first FanFic!**

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><p>"Sold, for $2,000,000!" an already loud voice shouted into a microphone.<p>

Sasuke winced slightly at the annoyingly loud sound then continued scowling. He wasn't in the mood to be bothered by the auctioneer abusing his eardrums. In fact, Sasuke wasn't even in the mood to be at the auction! He had been forced to come by his old friend Suigetsu who claimed that Sasuke needed something to "brighten up that lifeless apartment". What Suigetsu didn't count on was running out of the cash he was allowed to bring by the 5th bid and being forced out at Sasuke's request by their mutual friend: Jugo.

"If they have anything I'd like you'd better buy it in my stead!" Suigetsu shouted over Jugo's shoulder much to Sasuke's continued annoyance. He had always hated loud noises and it had started to give him a headache at that point. "And don't forget to buy something for yourself! I'll check in later to pick up what you've bought for me later in the week!" Suigetsu threatened before he was shoved into the car and was taken away from Sasuke's glare.

Sasuke had in fact not bought anything for himself yet. Nothing interested him. Sasuke was all about business and did not need any unnecessary items for show in his apartment. What was the point? The only people who ever visited him there were those who worked for him and Suigetsu, who never asks for an invitation. He did, however, buy Suigetsu a cheap looking fountain to avoid a loud demand for why Sasuke hadn't bought anything for him.

"And now our final item!" the auctioneer practically shouted into the microphone mere inches away from his mouth.

Sasuke brows furrowed, deepening his scowl. The last item was an unattractive statue presumably hundreds of years old. A collectable. Too bad Sasuke was not interested in collecting statues; now Suigetsu was going to shout a question as to why Sasuke didn't buy anything for himself.

"Pardon me, sir" a quieter voice said as its owner sat down next to Sasuke as Sasuke started to imagine where he could hit the shouting auctioneer to shut him up.

Sasuke shifted his eyes to show he was listening.

"I can see that you have not purchased anything for yourself here at our lovely auction." The man sitting next to Sasuke observed. Sasuke raised his eyebrows slightly. He was both impressed that the man could tell that the fountain was obviously not for himself and at the same time annoyed that the man had bothered him just to point out the obvious.

"If you are interested, perhaps you will find something more to your interest at our reserved auction after this?" the man offered while slightly leaning closer to Sasuke, lowering his voice the closer he got.

"Hn." Sasuke replied, turning his gaze back to the auctioneer who had thankfully finished screaming as the statue was sold. He might as well see what this so called "interesting" private auction sold so he could honestly tell Suigetsu that there was nothing Sasuke wanted to buy.

"Then if you will please remain here while the unnecessary ones leave. The reserved auction will start shortly after." The man promised as he stood up to leave. Sasuke hoped the loud auctioneer was one of the unnecessary.

People started to stand and make their way to the exit as well. Sasuke noticed few people still sitting as he was. All of them were men. Most of these men's expressions were showing anticipation and only one or two looked slightly confused. Sasuke's own expression stayed in his scowl; he would not allow his expression to reveal his own confusion.

After the last person left, the lights dimmed. The only lights still glowing intensely were those on the stage where the items were previously shown off. Now, instead of items, there were a few men standing in front of closed curtains whose muscles were evident even beneath their suits and the same auctioneer. Sasuke's scowl turned into an unseen glare as the loud man could not see anyone who was not on the stage due to the bright lights.

"Thank you for joining us tonight, gentlemen." Said the auctioneer in a normal tone. Sasuke's eyebrows were lifted slightly in surprise. He had thought that the man could only shout and it did not register that he had more than one volume of tone.

"There is only one item for bidding tonight but we promise that you will not be disappointed" promised the auctioneer. Sasuke glanced at the other men and it looked like some of them WERE disappointed. Others looked at the stage with anticipation, showing that they trusted the man. The same confused men simply kept their dumbstruck expressions. Then suddenly a loud thump that sounded like a person being thrown against the ground followed by a louder "DON'T TOUCH ME, YOU FUCKING BASTARDS" from behind the curtains made almost everyone in the vicinity jump.

Sasuke's glare faded a bit into a look of curiosity as more crashes from behind the curtain could be heard. No more words could be distinguished as the voice of whoever had shouted was muffled, though that did not stop the voice from continuously making sounds that rose above the frustrated grunts of those muffling it.

Suddenly, after a particularly loud cry of pain that could be heard through the muffle past the curtain, all noises stopped. The silence that followed had an air of surprise and curiosity. Those men who were previously showing looks of disappointed were now sharing looks of anticipation with the majority of the men. One of the confused men had abandoned his bewilderment as he too joined the anticipation having what it looked like a revelation as to what this auction sold. The other confused man tried his best to hide his confusion but was given away by his eyes. Sasuke was no longer glaring. He couldn't get the voice out of his head. Even though anger dripped off of every syllable spoken, he could tell the emotion was foreign to the voice and was guessing what it would normally sound like.

The auctioneer cleared his throat and eyes flickered between the man and the curtain behind which was the cause for the commotion.

The auctioneer grinned at the audience whose majority grinned in return.

"Now for the prize of the show."

Sasuke gasped with the rest of the men as the curtains slowly opened. There, in the middle of the stage was a blonde boy no older than 20. Each of his arms was held by the muscular men who had disappeared behind the curtain without anyone noticing, but their jackets were ruffled and one had the sleeve ripped off. The boy was on his knees with his head hanging in front of him; his only means of support were the men holding his arms. The boy's clothes hung loose from his tanned body suggesting they were several sizes too big for the slender form.

At the auctioneer's nod, one of the men pulled the blonde to a standing position, holding him by the shoulders as the boy's legs were no longer cooperating with him and hung loosely while his head continued to hang forwards. The other man walked towards the back of the stage returning with a chair. When he returned, both men placed the boy onto the chair, each holding one shoulder to ensure the boy did not fall off.

Now the men in the audience were leaning forward in their own chairs, even the previously lone confused man. It became clear to Sasuke that it was the blonde who was for sale, and all invited to the reserved auction were VERY interested in bidding. Himself included.

The auctioneer's face spread into a nasty grin as he took a moment for his captivated audience to fully appreciate the item being sold. He turned to the muscled man with the ripped sleeve and gave him a signal that was received with a slight nod.

The auctioneer turned back to the audience he couldn't see but knew was there and began his part of the show. "Tonight we have a fine piece indeed. He doesn't look his age but he is actually 19, a bit younger than average for us but we assure you he is well trained. That is," a pause as the grin got wider and slightly more malicious, "if you can be the first to tame this little rebel.

"He is a challenge, indeed!" The auctioneer's tone got more heated as he started to make his way towards the barely conscious blond who was feebly attempting to lift his head. "But a challenge worth trying." Suddenly the muscled man without a sleeve ripped off the blonde's overly large shirt while his partner tugged off the loose pants revealing a petit, tanned body. The boy was thin, but Sasuke quickly observed the lack of fat was natural. He also guessed that the boy would be about a head shorter than the older man, but had no problem with that estimation.

What Sasuke DID have a problem with was how roughly the auctioneer grabbed the blonde's face with his unworthy hands to how the invisible audience the boy's face.

The boy had the most captivating eyes. They were the deepest shade of blue Sasuke ever saw. Even though the eyes were half closed and glazed over suggesting the reason the sudden lack of noise from behind the curtain moments ago was because they had drugged him, Sasuke was instantly drawn into them. Trying to distract himself from those impossible azure eyes, the Uchiha noticed three scars resembling whiskers on each cheek. Whether natural or not, Sasuke couldn't tell as the lights aimed towards the stage were too bright for a proper observation and he was too far away anyways.

"Nnng," the blonde's eyes squinted in pain, hiding those alluring orbs, as he was pulled into a straighter position as one of the muscled men spread his legs to give the audience a better look at what they would be bidding for. The sudden alert in the audience let those on the stage know the bidding would be high tonight.

"Well then, let's start the bidding at—" the auctioneer started before he was cut off.

"$5,000!" A man with long, dark hair hissed his bid, leaning on the table in a pitiful attempt to get closer to the blonde.

"$7,000!" Another man challenged.

"$11,000!", "$17,000!", "$23,000!", "$35,000!", "$38,000!", "$42,000!"

"$50,000!"

The bidding war raged on; tension and tempers were running high as each man participating was intent on owning the boy in front of them.

Sasuke was torn. Why did he want to consider partaking in such an atrocious act? This was human trafficking! He knew that this was completely illegal. Hell, its fucking _wrong_! So why did he still want the blonde beauty?

As Sasuke was silently convincing himself that what he felt was mere lust and no action should be taken, the first bidder with long hair spoke again.

"$1,000,000."

The room went silent. Then a sudden flurry of hushed tones could be heard as the men mumbled to themselves, debating if continuing was worth it. The room went silent again. Then heated voices started to bid again.

Sasuke watched the scene in disgust. His focus was on the long-haired man who seemed to merely wait for his time to make another outrageous bid. Then his attention turned to two men who seemed to make an alliance with each other, pooling their money together to share the blonde if they won the war.

Suddenly, anger at the thought of the blonde being taken by the long-haired man, or worse by two grubby men, overtook Sasuke. His face was no longer showed a stoic disinterest or annoyance but rather full blown anger.

"$10,000,000." The long-haired man Sasuke now loathed with every particle of his existence declared, leering at the boy he thought belonged to him now. A tongue flickered out from between his lips as the hated man licked his lips that had spread into a malicious grin.

The grin sent Sasuke over the edge.

Before he knew it, Sasuke was standing up, knocking his chair back in his anger. The furniture made a lot of noise, canceling out all others and calling attention to himself from those around him and those who couldn't see him onstage. But Sasuke didn't care. He _wanted_ them to see his determination. The blonde was his and he wanted everyone to know so they could stay the fuck away from his property.

"$100,000,000"


	2. Angel

**Disclaimer: I own no one**

**Now on with the story**

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><p>This boy is an angel.<p>

Sasuke refused to let go of his personal angel as they got into his car. His driver, Kiba, looked at his boss in a restrained confusion when Sasuke came out of the building with an unconscious blond in his arms bridal style covered only by Sasuke's coat, but didn't say anything. After working for Sasuke for more than a week, Kiba quickly learned that there was no use trying to talk to his boss and those who did for too long were fired, if they were lucky. But the pay was nice and Kiba couldn't exactly afford to lose the easiest job he's ever had. Plus he started to befriend Sasuke's other employees. While they rarely saw each other during work, if at all, the group had taken to getting together at least once a week.

After opening the back door for his boss, Kiba quickly stuck the strange fountain in the trunk all the while sneaking peaks at his boss in the back seat. He was rewarded with the surprising sight of Sasuke still holding the boy.

Sasuke could not be bothered with what his driver was doing, even though it annoyed him slightly when he noticed his driver's frequent looks through the rearview mirror, because he was focusing on something far more important.

His angel.

Even though they were still in the car, Sasuke mentally and physically refused to let go of the blond. He positioned himself so that he could still hold the boy bridal style on his lap, leaning the angel's head on his shoulder enjoying the warmth of it all.

Since leaving the auction, Sasuke was able to get a closer and much better look at the boy. The bright stage lights did not accurately show just how tan the boy was in compared to Sasuke's own milky skin. The boy probably spent a lot of time out in the sun, as opposed to Sasuke who spent most of his time either in the office or in his penthouse apartment.

The lights also distracted Sasuke from how much the blond locks seem to glow themselves, he had never seen such bright hair in his life before. They seemed to rival the sun itself. His hair was also very soft, Sasuke observed as some of the boy's gravity defying spikes were tickling his neck, if Uchihas were ticklish that is.

What surprised Sasuke the most about these new observations were six scars on the boy's cheeks. Three scars on each side, giving the appearance as if they were whiskers. If Sasuke didn't know any better, he'd guess they were natural. But Sasuke traced them on the blonde's otherwise smooth cheeks and could feel the slight rises and knew the scars were relatively recent even if they had long been healed.

Before Sasuke covered the blonde with his jacket, he could see that there were other scars covering the boy's body, but didn't think much of it at the time as he was focusing on covering _his_ angel from lecherous eyes. But as he traced the whiskers with his thumb, all the scars the boy accumulated couldn't be pushed out of his mind.

Sasuke tried focusing on something else. He kept playing the boy's voice over in his mind. No, that wouldn't work because now all he wanted to do was to hear the boy say something. The blonde was still unconscious from what Sasuke could now determine was a tranquilizer, judging by a little mark made on the boy's neck. Just another mark to add to all the other scars.

No! He shouldn't focus on the scars. Sasuke tried thinking of something else. They eyes! Even though the boy's eyes were downcast and slightly glazed over when Sasuke caught a glimpse of them, he was still in awe at how truly beautiful they were. Sasuke remembered how those cerulean orbs caught the light on the stage and seemed to make the eyes sparkle. Sasuke also recalled how impossibly blue they were. Wait, this was no good. Now all Sasuke wanted was to gaze into the eyes of the unconscious angel.

Sasuke tried to focus on something in the present. He finally settled on the boy's warmth as he held him. Sasuke was never into touching others affectionately, probably because any time he held in the past was either too stiff by his father or brother before they died or too suffocating by any fangirl stupid enough to cross Sasuke's personal space. Both of the previous experiences made Sasuke wary he soon learned to avoid touching people in general. But this was nice. The boy had a natural warmth that seemed to infect Sasuke as he held him, but Sasuke didn't mind. In fact enjoyed this simple pleasure of being able to share the blonde's warmth while he breathed even, relaxing breaths in his unconscious state.

Ignoring his driver's surprised look in the rearview mirror, Sasuke pulled his angel closer to himself, releasing a satisfied sigh as he rested his head atop the blonde's.

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><p>If Sasuke's actions in the car didn't surprise Kiba, his actions while entering his apartment did. First, Sasuke simply refused to let go of the blonde he was holding. Thoroughly confused, Kiba did not know what to make of this. He had offered to carry the boy in Sasuke's stead as he knew for a fact that his boss absolutely hated being touched, and he was hoping for a glimpse inside the apartment since he was always instructed to wait by the car in the apartment complex's garage. But Sasuke practically growled as he gave his driver the infamous Uchiha glare for even thinking about taking his angel away from him.<p>

Then Sasuke ordered his poor driver to accompany him up to his penthouse. Initially, Kiba was thrilled at the thought, but then he started to wonder why all of a sudden he was allowed to be near his boss's home. He was slightly pacified when Sasuke told him that he needed someone to open the door as his hands were otherwise occupied with more important matters.

Kiba expected his job to be over as he respectfully stepped out of the way after opening the door (but not before he snuck a quick look into the luxurious but curiously empty apartment), but Sasuke ordered him to follow over his shoulder as he walked by; still carrying the blonde. The distance was expected to be long as Sasuke murmured that they were headed to the furthest room in the penthouse, but the apartment had only one couch and a few chairs as well as only the necessary items for a comfortable living environment so the walk was very direct. The Kiba noticed that the overall color scheme was grey and black with only a few blue items scattered around. The overall effect was a little intimidating.

When they finally reached their destination, a spare bedroom, Sasuke's behavior got even stranger. Instead of placing the boy on the bed, Sasuke held the boy closer, if possible, glaring at the bed.

"What's the matter, sir?" the driver asked his boss.

"It's wrong."

"What's wrong? The bed?" the driver took a hesitant step towards said bed.

"Hn. The sheets are wrong for him."

"Th-the sheets?" Kiba was even more confused than before, the bed was very tidy and the silk sheets were so clean that they looked brand new. Kiba knew that these sheets were cleaned recently for a fact as Sasuke's maid, Sakura, often complained about how many times she's had to wash sheets that were rarely used.

Sasuke continued to glare at the bed. "The sheets should be warm and comfortable for him." Kiba didn't need to ask who "he" was as Sasuke seemed to hold the blonde boy closer than what Kiba thought previously impossible for both his boss and humans with each glare he sent the bed. "Change the sheets, quickly!"

Kiba had trouble locating the closet where Sakura kept the spare sheets. He didn't want to ask Sasuke as the glares he kept shooting at the bed seemed near lethal. When he finally found the warmest sheets he could locate in the closet and choosing a particularly squishy comforter, Kiba rushed back to the room and was unsurprised to hear a curt "Change it."

Kiba did as he was told. Though the bed was not made as neatly as Sakura could make it, Kiba was pleased with his work since his own bed at home stayed perpetually unmade with only a single blanket that usually ended up on the floor anyways. Apparently, Sasuke deemed not only his handiwork but his choice of linens acceptable as he was no longer sending the bed to hell through his glares and set the blonde boy down on it with such care and tenderness that Kiba couldn't help but stare and question his eyes because he did not think his cold boss was capable of human emotion.

Then Sasuke surprised his driver yet again by practically running out of the room with the speed he was walking. Curious, Kiba followed at a slower pace and saw that Sasuke had made his way to what seemed to be the master bedroom. Kiba was too distracted by his boss throwing clothes onto the floor while digging through his wardrobe with a determined look on his face to look around the room he had wondered about the most when musing what kind of place his boss lived in.

"Dammit!" Sasuke growled as he held up a pair of pajamas that Kiba guessed were probably designer, judging by the other clothes now decorating the grey carpeted floor.

Kiba nearly flinched when Sasuke turned towards the door and saw him standing there.

"These are wrong, too."

"S-sir?" Kiba was backing up into the hallway as his boss walked towards him with a slight scowl on his face.

"These won't fit him! They are too big!" Sasuke turned and walked to the guest room immediately after exiting his room, completely ignoring his driver as he kept muttering about how the blonde boy wouldn't be able to fit into the blonde boy. Kiba thought Sasuke had completely forgotten that he was there until his boss called over his shoulder, "Be ready to buy something proper for him!"

"Sir?" Kiba was about to ask what "something" was when his boss disappeared into the guest room. Sighing, Kiba made his way to the door at a slower pace than before to patiently wait outside so he could ask what Sasuke meant.

"Sir, what is 'something'?" Kiba called as he was just about to reach the doorway. When he did, he froze as Sasuke was now leaning over the unconscious boy, buttoning up the pajama shirt he had deemed unworthy a mere five minutes earlier. Then Sasuke straightened from his position and admired how the blonde boy looked in his pajamas that were indeed too large for the boy. Judging from Sasuke's slight smile, Kiba was surprised to see, Sasuke no longer found the need to complain about pajamas being too big.

While Kiba was still marveling over how he had seen his stoic boss show emotion not once but _twice_, he was astounded to see yet _another_display of emotion from the cold man. Sasuke was now tucking the blonde boy into the newly-made comfortable bed. Kiba did not even bother offering to help as Sasuke seemed to be in his own world comprising of only himself and the blonde boy.

Sasuke's face grew gentle as he lifted the boy from the edge of the bed, again proffering to hold the blonde boy bridal-style, towards the middle of the pillows. Propping the blonde boy against the headboard, after setting a pillow against the surface first for maximum comfort, Sasuke pulled the sheets back and laid the blond boy underneath them. Sasuke's eyes never left the blonde boy's face as he gently pulled the sheets and comforter up to his chin, covering the blonde boy's tiny body in the bed's comfortable and warm abyss. Then, sliding his hand under the blonde boy's head, Sasuke used his other hand to switch the original pillow with another, fluffier pillow Kiba had placed to the side. Placing the blonde boy's head softly atop the new pillow, allowing it to seemingly swallow the back of the blonde boy's head, Sasuke's slight smile grew as he admired how the comfortable bed practically absorb the blond boy leaving only the front of his head, sleeping peacefully, visible.

Sasuke grabbed the chair from the desk in the room and seated himself in it, seeming perfectly happy simply watching the blonde boy sleep. Kiba quietly turned to leave when he heard his boss whisper to him.

"Tomorrow, you are buying him proper clothes."

Kiba inwardly groaned as he stepped outside, closing the door behind him so his boss could enjoy staring at the blonde boy in peace. He grabbed the silk sheets he had to change and walked to the couch he saw earlier. There was no point going home now.

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><p>Inside the room his driver recently vacated, Sasuke was still watching the blonde sleep, listening to the gentle breathing and noticing how the comforter was so think that he had to focus to see it move up and down with the breathes. Quietly moving the chair closer to the bed, Sasuke reached out his hand to lightly stroke the whiskered cheeks one more time before leaning back into the chair to find a comfortable position to continue his watch.<p>

This boy was an angel, but Sasuke would be his new guardian.

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><p><strong>I adore rates and reviews! they make my day!<strong>


	3. Guardian

**Disclaimer: I own no one, despite my dearest wishes haha.**

**Now onwards with chapter 3! Naruto wakes up!**

Sasuke was determined to be his angel's perfect guardian.

He wanted to do more than simply watch over his angel; he wanted to do everything for his angel. He wanted to protect his angel. He wanted to provide for his angel. He wanted to bring his angel happiness. He wanted to let his angel feel hope. He wanted to give his angel a reason to smile. He wanted to love his angel.

But more importantly than wanting to do everything; he wanted to _be_ everything for his angel.

He wanted to be his angel's protector. He wanted to be his angel's provider. He wanted to be his angel's happiness. He wanted to be his angel's hope. He wanted to be the reason his angel smiled. He wanted to be his angel's love.

His angel was already all that for him and more.

Sure he only knew of his angel's existence for less than a day. Yeah, he has yet to officially "meet" his angel. And Ok, he knew next to nothing about his angel.

But Sasuke fell in love with his angel at first sight.

Normally, an Uchiha would not give into such a cliché belief. An Uchiha would also never spend the night watching an unconscious stranger sleep off the tranquilizers they were given. Hell, an Uchiha would never admit their true feelings.

But this angel was worth making an exception.

Sure his angel could neither protect nor provide physically as Sasuke would, but his angel would provide and protect his heart. Yeah, his angel could not provide happiness nor hope through physical or tireless actions as Sasuke would, but his angel would do so solely through his mere presence. And Ok, Sasuke knew that it would take a while for his angel to smile just for him and fall for him as he had, but he had already fallen hard for his angel and already the mere memory of holding his angel close and the knowledge that he could do it again was making Sasuke smile.

Sasuke knew that it would take time and effort for his angel to return his burning passion, but Sasuke was a professional in patience. But he doubted that he needed this skill; he is and Uchiha! Sasuke knew that he is a heartthrob, his annoying fanclub was proof enough. And his annoying fanclub also let him know daily how "hot" he is. He is also the Uchiha heir as well as the Uchiha Corp. president. Sasuke had little doubt that it would take long for his angel to warm up to him.

But Sasuke did not want attraction from his angel, he wanted –no, needed—love.

That is why Sasuke kept a constant watch over his angel, ever vigilant for any sign that he was waking up. When he went to get aspirin for when his angel woke up, he had a mirror positioned so he could keep a constant tab. But other than grabbing items needed for when his angel woke up and pad so he could write items his angel would need later, Sasuke remained at his post next to the bed. Sometimes he would stretch his legs when they got numb, or lean over the bed to stroke his angel's cheek and make sure he was still sleeping peacefully. He once took a small nap when he knew he would collapse from exhaustion and knew his angel would be sleeping for a couple more hours. He jolted awake an hour and a half later, berating his body's need for sleep when he could be soaking in his angel's features.

Sasuke sat at his post admiring his angel. His angel's even breathes while he slept were so peaceful, they made Sasuke feel any stress lull away. His angel's natural tan made his angel seemingly pop out against the crème covers that swallowed him up as well as in contrast to Sasuke's own complexion. His angel's bright blonde hair seemingly glowed, though not as bright as it potential was when his angel would awaken. His angel's scared cheeks stood out the most to Sasuke, though.

Wait—was his angel waking up?

As Sasuke was studying his face, his angel's eyelashes began to flutter as his eyebrows began to scrunch up in slight discomfort or pain. Sasuke was worried because he personally made sure his angel would feel nothing but comfort while he slept. But was it really pain? Sasuke was considering different reasons for the pain while cursing whoever was responsible while simultaneously promising that whoever it was would pay dearly for every wince his angel's face portrayed when his angel's eyes squinted as if trying to block out the light.

If the light in the room was causing his angel discomfort then it had to go.

Sasuke silently, in case sound would also bother his angel, but nonetheless quickly rushed over to the lightswitch to turn off the lights as fast as he could. Then he heard a slight whimper from behind him. If Sasuke wasn't an Uchiha, he might have been surprised at the speed he turned around with. He couldn't believe that he wasn't looking when his angel started to stir!

Sasuke quickly ghosted over to behind his chair so he could be ready to help his angel in any way as well as getting a better view of his now awakening angel. Luckily all he missed was his blonde unscrunching his eyes a little. Sasuke forgave himself as his angel seemed a little less discomforted.

Now his angel was whimpering a little bit more and was trying to move his head around. Sasuke didn't want his angel to discomfort himself anymore so he reached over to stop him from moving any more when his angel's eyes shot open.

His angel's eyes immediately squinted to block out the dim light; but his angel whimpered again as he forced his eyes open again. This time, his angel started to scan the room, starting opposite of where Sasuke froze. Sasuke was transfixed by his angel's cerulean orbs' calculating look, mixed with anxiety, fear, pain, exhaustion, confusion and a little curiosity all flashing together yet apart at the same time.

Then his angel saw him.

Instinctually his angel flinched away from him. Then his angel shot up and attempted to distance himself from Sasuke, but did not get far as he was also clutching his head and started swaying as soon as he sat up.

"You should really lie down." Sasuke whispered in a tone he hoped would calm down his angel, but cursed himself in his head when his angel's impossibly blue eyes radiated pure fear as if expecting the very worst. "Shh," Sasuke coaxed as he leaned closer to the bed, noticing how his angel immediately froze at the gesture, "I'm not going to hurt you."

His angel's eyes flashed confusion, disbelief, pain from past memories, but overall a continued glazed look overshadowing those impossible blue eyes that still managed over out sparkle any star in comparison. Sasuke loved how his angel's eyes were practically windows into his soul, but hated that the tranquilizers given to him the night before were still affecting him like this.

His angel started to sway dangerously as he tried to stay upright and more importantly away from Sasuke's approaching arms, but Sasuke caught him and pulled him into a warm embrace. His angel stiffened and feebly attempted to push him away, but his attempts were futile as well as feeble. Sasuke pulled him away at arms' length and stared into his angel's hypnotizing eyes. His angel flinched at the intensity.

"You really shouldn't be moving. The tranquilizers those bastards made you take haven't worn off yet so you are just going to make yourself sick and maybe even faint if you keep this off."

His angel stared at him for a second, then resumed his weak efforts to break away from Sasuke.

With a slight growl, Sasuke _gently_ and carefully shook his angel, chastising him. "I _said_ to stop moving!" His angel ignored him and continued struggling. "I said stop." More struggling. "Dobe!"

At that last insult, his angel froze with his eyes flashing with anger. "Teme." His angel's voice was raspy, as if unused for awhile. He then began to sway some more as Sasuke almost lessened his grip in shock.

Sasuke then got back to his senses and laid his angel back onto the bed, cupping the back on his angel's head with his hand until it reached the pillow. He then leaned back onto his chair saying, "There are some aspirins for you later, but you should really rest some more."

His angel's eyes surveyed him for a second, "Who are you?" he rasped.

"My name is Uchiha, Sasuke."

His angel considered this new information and seemed to be choosing the most concise words he could use to minimize as much talking as he could. "Why am I here?"

"I bought you at the auction last night."

At Sasuke's answer, his angel's eyes dilated with fear, and he immediately struggled to get up again.

"Hey!" Sasuke almost shouted at he quickly leaned over the large bed, pinning his angel to the mattress. His angel froze with obvious fear as his eyes began to tear up and his lips trembled.

"Yes, I _did_ buy you…" Sasuke paused as their eyes connected, he chose his next words with care and put as much sincerity as he could into them, "but to keep you away from those bastards. _Not_ so I can use you in any way."

At his words, his blonde's eyes shimmered with confusion, disbelief and hope all at once. Sasuke was encouraged with that as he leaned down to kiss his angel's forehead.

"I promise I will never hurt you." Sasuke smiled at his angel.

"…Y-you didn't buy me for s-s-se—" His angel's eyes radiated such vulnerability that Sasuke had to interrupt them.

"I bought you because you are my angel. I could never hurt you."

His angel began to visibly relax at the conviction that Sasuke spoke with. Though the disbelief never left his eyes, the hope grew and he had stopped trembling.

"Before you go back to sleep, may I know my angel's name?" Sasuke's voice must have portrayed how much he wanted to know because a slight spark of amusement flashed in his angel's eyes before he closed them and answered.

"Uzumaki, Naruto."

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	4. Awake

**Disclaimer: I own no one.**

**Onward with chapter 4!**

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><p>Sakura Haruno had never planned nor expected to become a maid when she grew up. Like all little girls, she dreamed of marrying her prince one day and becoming a princess. Working as a maid was not part of her plan.<p>

Sakura's original plan to become a princess took place in the fantasy world she lived in as a child, but Sakura had since learned to compromise in the face of her current reality as an adult and only took up maid work as a part time job to pay for her tuition as a med student at the local university.

At first, Sakura hated the very idea of having to clean up after people, but because of her class schedule and the hours spent at the hospital, becoming a maid was the best she could do.

Lucky for Sakura, there was only a select handful of people that actually needed her to clean, the rest had traditional housewives who only hired her to either spite their husbands by blatantly wasting their money or for emergency help to assist the scrambled cleaning the housewives obsessed over for dinner parties.

So while Sakura hated the idea of her part time job, she grew to love how she was paid for hardly cleaning at all and how all this "work" took less than a couple of hours during the week.

The only place where Sakura was employed that required her daily but unnecessary attention was the Uchiha residence.

At first, upon meeting her new employer, Sakura was overwhelmed. He is a total hottie! Sasuke Uchiha was the prince of her fantasies! She spent a good portion of her first few weeks of being employed by attempting to catch his attention in hopes that he would whisk her away and make her his princess like she had always dreamed of.

But she soon learned that her efforts were in vain. Sasuke Uchiha must be asexual because not once did Sakura witness her boss bringing home or let alone notice a woman. Sakura was forced to relent her obsession with her boss when she realized there was no use even trying to get his attention. It only brought pain when she was ignored.

But that did not stop Sakura from trying to catch a daily glimpse of her Greek god of a boss.

So when Sakura opened the door to her boss's pent house apartment expecting to see Sasuke in the kitchen, she was shocked to see that her Greek god had been replaced by her way less attractive co-worker and friend, Kiba.

"KIBA! What are you doing here?" Sakura demanded with a louder voice than she intended.

Kiba's reply was to hold a finger to his lips and to tiredly but quickly signaling Sakura to come over to where he was with the other hand while glancing in the direction of the guest bedroom with undisguised apprehension.

"What is it?" Sakura asked in a softer tone than before as she made her way to the kitchen, noticing ruffled sheets on the couch and scowled since this was the job where she hardly had to work at all as there was no mess to clean, until today.

"Shh!" Kiba's eyes darted towards the guest bedroom again, "the boss doesn't want to be disturbed today." He whispered.

Confusion washed over Sakura. When did Sasuke _ever_ want to be disturbed? What made last night so special? Did he meet a woman last night? The idea didn't bother her as much as she originally thought it would; she had long since given up on the idea of Sasuke being her prince. But she still had trouble picturing Sasuke with a woman.

"What? Why?" Sakura managed to whisper as she tried to imagine what kind of woman Sasuke could be into.

"Because he spent the night watching over some blondie he 'rescued' last night." Kiba whispered in reply.

So Sasuke was into blondes. Sakura couldn't help but scowl. Perhaps her classmate and longtime friend, Ino, was right when she told Sakura that men like Sasuke need fun blondes in their lives. Ino had been teasing Sakura at the time, but Sakura could not bear that Ino was right.

Sakura was suddenly torn by the idea that Sasuke had spent the night with Ino. She had shown her blonde friend a picture of her boss she secretly shot one day last week and Ino definitely seemed interested. Sakura's pained expression shifted to the door of the guest room that she hoped was not concealing her boss with her friend on the other side.

But wait—didn't Kiba say "rescued"? Why would Ino need rescuing? Why would Sasuke ever rescue anyone else? In all her time working for the Uchiha, Sakura had never witnessed Sasuke show that he gave a damn about anyone else. He didn't even donate to charity other than the ones his company donated to annually before he inherited it.

Sakura gave a confused look back to Kiba, silently asking for further explanation.

Kiba nodded his head in understanding. "Boss went to an auction last night and bought a weird fountain and some blonde boy."

_A __blonde_ boy_?_ Sakura thought as she looked over to the guest room_.__Why __would __Sasuke __buy __a __blonde __boy?__He __doesn__'__t __need __any__more __personal __employees._ Sakura gasped_.__Did __he __buy __him __for __sex? __Is __Sasuke _gay?_?_

Another pleading look was given to Kiba for more information.

"I don't know why he bought the blondie," Kiba started, "but I don't think it was for slave labor or anything like that. He kept holding the blondie bridal style in his arms—even in the car—and practically _growled_ at me when I offered to carry him to the apartment! Then he went on a mini rampage declaring that the sheets on the guest bed weren't soft enough for blondie or his pajamas weren't right! And the weirdest part was the way he kept _staring_ at the guy!"

Sakura shared a confused look with her friend. Both couldn't believe what Kiba was saying! This is _Sasuke__Uchiha_! Their cold, stoic boss! This is the man who threatened to—and did—beat up his supposed best friend, Suigetsu, every time he came over! This is the man who scared the living shit out of anyone who crosses his path! This is the man who without mercy destroyed his opponents' businesses! The man both previously thought incapable not only of human emotion but also a sex drive. What Kiba was describing did not make any sense.

Sakura had to see this for herself.

With unspoken agreement, the two employees and friends crept over to the guest bedroom. Along the way, Kiba silently pointed out the mess of clothes thrown around Sasuke left in his room to Sakura's surprise. The duo were disappointed to discover that the guest room door was closed when they finally tip toed to their destination.

With a nod, Sakura silently opened the door a crack large enough for both of the two's eyes as she crouched down to let Kiba have a clear view above her.

The image they saw shocked them.

There was their boss sitting in a chair next to the bed looking at a sleeping blonde boy with whiskered scars on his cheeks with a soft smile on his face.

Sasuke Uchiha. Smiling.

Both let out an involuntary gasp that was instantly regretted by the two as Sasuke had heard them.

The smile on their boss's face instantly fell to a hell freezing glare as he turned to see his maid and driver peeping at him and his angel.

The two terrified employees straightened up and walked into the room with their heads down as they waited for their boss to fire them.

"If the two of you have time to peep through doors then you obviously have time to buy new clothes."

Two heads popped up in pure confusion.

Sasuke's glare deepened as he addressed his two employees, "You two are to go out and buy him some new clothes that will fit him. It doesn't matter how many clothes you buy as long as you hurry back and they fit him."

Two identical looks of confusion shifted together. First continuing to stare at Sasuke. Then to the blonde boy sleeping on the bed. Then to each other. Finally back to their boss.

The glare he was sending back made it clear that his orders were absolute and to not be questioned for any reason. "Go!" he barked in a quiet but clear tone that made the two jump and run out.

The noise they made when scrambling out of the room caused the blonde boy in question to stir, but they did not pause to look. Instead, they practically ran through the apartment and threw open the door to reveal a figure about to knock.

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><p>Sasuke's glare at where his two employees previously stood did not waver until her heard a soft moan coming from the bed. Glare instantly gone, Sasuke turned his attention towards his angel was inwardly delighted to see blurry blue eyes blinking back at him.<p>

Naruto seemed surprised to see Sasuke. He slowly sat up while surveying the room and rubbed his eyes. He glanced back at Sasuke and shrank back a bit.

Sasuke lifted his hand to caress his angel's cheek to comfort him. Sasuke didn't miss how Naruto stiffened at the touch or how his bright eyes squeezed shut as if expecting to be hurt as Sasuke continued gently rubbing Naruto's scarred cheek.

Sasuke continued running his thumb over the cheek until Naruto's eyes opened. Sasuke smiled softly as he got off his chair to sit on the edge of the bed, closer to his angel, while never breaking eye contact. His hand slid down his angel's jaw line to cup Naruto's chin. Once again Naruto's eyes squeezed shut, a reaction based off bad experiences Sasuke guessed, but took less time to open.

Black orbs read the emotions as fear, slight confusion, apprehension, and—Sasuke was pleased to notice—hope passed through the blue eyes they were observing. The two held eye contact while Naruto's body relaxed.

Soon, Naruto broke the eye contact by looking down. "Was it you who bought me last night?" he asked timidly.

"Hn." Sasuke's hand never left his angel's chin nor did his eyes leave his face.

Naruto's body stiffened at the answer. Sasuke placed his other hand on Naruto's shoulder and said in a reassuring tone, "But I promised you that I would never hurt you."

Naruto's eyes shot right back up to meet Sasuke's own eyes. This time, the cerulean orbs sparkled with undisguised hope. "That wasn't a dream?"

Sasuke's smile threatened to widen, "No, that wasn't a dream."

Naruto's body relaxed again as a grateful smile spread across his face. Sasuke fell in love with that smile and he knew he would do anything to keep his angel happy if that meant he could see that smile again.

Curiosity had been nagging at Sasuke ever since he laid eyes on Naruto and while he hated himself for bringing it up, he knew that he had to know how Naruto had acquired all the half healed scars that marred his body.

Waiting a little, while Naruto broke eye contact once again and shyly moved out of Sasuke's reach to reposition himself and stretch a little, Sasuke was choosing the right words to phrase his question.

"How did you get those scars?" Sasuke asked in an apologetic tone, regretting not being able better words and what affect the question had on his angel.

Naruto tensed mid-stretch, then bended his knees into a sitting fetal position, hugging his legs as all traces of smiles and bright eyes vanished, leaving blank, humorless eyes and lips pressing together in a tight line in their stead.

"My previous Masters." Naruto's voice was empty.

Sasuke hated how empty Naruto looked and sounded as well as these "Masters" who Naruto spoke of. Sasuke wanted to comfort the blonde, but knew better than to touch him while he was thinking about the past. "Masters?" he urged in a soft tone that did not betray the fury he was feeling.

"These," Naruto indicated to his cheeks, "are from First Master. I wasn't 'obedient' enough when he and his friends were over so he 'marked' me. And these," Naruto pointed to his shoulders, "are from when I refused to suck off Second Master. Third Master enjoyed tying me up and whipping me and Fourth Master was under the impression that I wanted to be forced into doing things with him." Naruto's voice grew more bitter but at the same time more timid. It was obvious that he hated every minute of his enslavement but was as equally frightened by it as he hugged his legs tighter and started to tremble.

"I won't be like them." Sasuke stated strongly. He couldn't stand the thought of what those bastards did to _his_ angel! "I promise I will never do anything to you without your consent. And I would never let anyone else touch you."

Sasuke waited for his words to sink in. Naruto slowly unclenched his fists as he loosened his grip around his legs. As Naruto began to relax, Sasuke reached over to pull his angel into his arms.

Before he could, though, the door was blasted open with a loud BANG.

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><p><strong>I adore Reviews<strong>


	5. Lies

**Disclaimer: No one in the Naruto Universe belongs to me.**

**Ugh, that writer's block is a bitch. But I'm writing this as my roommate studies so it SEEMS like I, too, am busy. Oh sweet ignorance, is there nothing greater?**

**Onward with Chapter 5!**

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><p>"SASUKE!"<p>

Suigetsu barged into the room, shouting Sasuke's name in his annoying, loud voice. It seemed as if the man had only two volumes: loud and _very_ loud.

With one arm still on the door handle, he slammed open with such a brash noise that Suigetsu was surprised that he didn't leave a dent in the wall. He quickly checked; he didn't.

Upon hearing a small, frightened squeak, Suigetsu abandoned his investigation of the dent-free wall to look for what had made the noise. He was sure as hell that it wasn't _Sasuke__Uchiha_ who made that noise.

Uchihas weren't capable of squeaks or fear; Suigetsu had the hospital records to prove that.

Suigetsu was not surprised to see the man in question. But he _was_ surprised to see some blondie. The blondie was frantically trying to hide himself within the covers of the bed the two were sitting in. The blondie looked fearful while the Uchiha was practically seething.

Funny, usually Sasuke would be halfway across the room with a glare that meant Suigetsu should be running unless he wanted to go back to the hospital.

The glare was there, but Sasuke had yet to move. In fact, Sasuke had his arm outstretched in the direction of the frightened blondie. It appeared that Sasuke was slightly attached to the blondie and didn't want to move.

Suigetsu grinned; he was going to have _so_ much fun with this.

"SASUKE! What the hell? You only got me a fountain?" Suigetsu said in a loud volume. Sasuke's glare hardened, but he still hadn't moved.

"And I can see that you didn't buy anything for yourself! Without anything to pre-occupy yourself, you are just going to snap and kill someone, you know." Suigetsu continued, noticing that at the word "buy", blondie tensed up a little bit. Sasuke lowered his arm while unleashing the infamous Uchiha Glare, but didn't move any closer to Suigetsu.

Suigetsu's grin widened, just how far could he go before Sasuke snaps? Sure, it's a dangerous game, but where's the fun in safety?

"Don't tell me you actually _did_ buy something?" Suigetsu indicated towards the blondie. Blondie pulled the covers up to his chin in fear, only his eyes were visible. Sasuke growled at Suigetsu for intimidating blondie.

"Oh! I get it now! You bought yourself a sex slave! It's about time, too! Hmm, you got yourself a nice one. How long do you think he'll last? Knowing you, not that lon-" Suigetsu had to stop because Sasuke had finally moved.

With a snarl, Sasuke headed towards the door. Suigetsu was almost out of the doorway when Sasuke reached him.

Before Suigetsu could weakly defend that he meant no harm and that he was only playing around; Sasuke grabbed him by the back of his shirt collar.

Pulling him back with more force than necessary, Sasuke used the momentum to make his punch to Suigetsu's cheek hurt all the more.

Sasuke grabbed Suigetsu by the collar again and landed a punch on the other cheek. As the bastard tried to move away, Sasuke punched him in the eye area, not caring where he hit.

Sasuke then kneed the man in the stomach. Suigetsu bent over, gasping.

Not giving him a break in his wrath, Sasuke delivered the final blow to this short but effective beating to the top of Suigetsu's head.

Suigetsu was on the floor now, one hand wrapped around his stomach with the other placed forward, no longer supporting the previously conscious bastard.

Sasuke grabbed the unconscious man by the collar again and dragged him through his near-empty, as the man had pointed out, penthouse apartment and pulled him roughly onto the couch.

Sasuke was making a mental note to tell his medical student maid to check up on him when she and his driver walked through the door with bags of clothes.

The two were talking to each other in friendly tones. His driver held the door open for his maid and Sasuke noticed that his driver was holding the bulkier bags. Huh. Sasuke didn't know his staff were friends with each other.

When his staff noticed him, they stopped talking. Their eyes slid from himself, to Suigetsu's unconscious form unceremoniously tossed onto the couch, back to Sasuke's stiff form with slightly ruffled clothing, and then to each other, finally back to their boss.

"That was fast." Sasuke observed. His monotone voice and lingering glare from annoyance from Suigetsu made his staff cringe a little.

"There's a department store only two blocks away." His maid explained. While her voice did not waver, her tone was quieter than usual and her eyes looked as if she was trying to decipher why Sasuke would be mad at them for being quick with carrying out his orders.

"Yeah, and we were using your credit card, so we didn't have to worry about wasting time on finding a particular size." His driver offered, wearing a similar look to his maid and was also trying to find the meaning behind his boss's anger.

"But we kept the receipt!" His maid quickly supplied as soon as his driver finished explaining how they had paid for the piles of clothes. She gestured towards one of the many bags she and his driver were carrying.

Sasuke's eyes assessed the contents of the bags he could see. They would work well enough for Naruto.

Oh, God. Sasuke's outward appearance did not betray any change, but his inside suddenly went a little colder.

Naruto had seen Sasuke attack Suigetsu.

Sasuke couldn't decide which was worse. How Naruto had heard Suigetsu nearly shout implications that Sasuke had bought Naruto for sex; which Naruto was clearly apprehensive about. Or how Naruto had heard Suigetsu mention how violent Sasuke can get and implied that Sasuke would transfer his temper issues to Naruto; which clearly frightened Naruto to no end, especially given his past record of "Masters". Or how Sasuke seemingly confirmed said accusation by beating on the bastard and dragging him across the apartment.

Sasuke decided that Naruto meeting Suigetsu was the worst part.

Sasuke had to go back to his angel to repair the damages Suigetsu caused.

"Haruno," His staff tensed as Sasuke addressed his maid, "check up on the bastard and make sure he doesn't have to go to the hospital till after he pays." Sasuke gestured towards Suigetsu's body.

Not waiting for a response, Sasuke turned and headed towards the guest bedroom, leaving his staff with confused expressions.

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><p>Naruto was hugging his legs while lying on his side in a fetal position underneath the covers he threw over himself. He was scared out of his mind.<p>

'_He __lied. __He __LIED!__'_ was all Naruto could think. He _knew_ that it was all too good to be true. He knew that there was no escaping his servitude. First master had made that very clear as he was carving the scars onto Naruto's cheeks.

But Naruto couldn't help but feel betrayed. Sasuke—no, _new_ Master, had lied to him. New Master had claimed that he didn't buy Naruto for sex.

Naruto had thought that the gentle promise was just a dream; a wonderful dream that someone had come to save him from the life he was forced to live.

He had felt a happiness that he thought was beat out of him during his harsh past few years when New Master told him that it was not a dream.

'_Yes, __I _did _buy __you__… __but __to __keep __you __away __from __those __bastards. __Not __so __I __can __use __you __in __any__way_.'

Naruto inwardly berated himself, pulling his legs into a closer cocoon. How could he have been so stupid? He should have known better than to hope New Master would be any different. He should have learned his lesson with Third Master.

Third Master had told him that he wasn't like Naruto's previous Masters. Technically, he was right. After sweet talking and making false promises, he proceeded to show Naruto just how 'different' he was than the others by tying him to the bed before breaking said promises.

'_I __bought __you __because __you __are __my __angel. __I __could __never __hurt __you._'

Naruto wanted the promise to be true. Hell, he _really_ wanted this promise to be kept. But Naruto knew better.

It was just another empty promise. Like all the others. New Master was just like all the others.

New Master's Friend had proved that.

New Master's Friend had said that New Master had indeed bought Naruto for sex, despite what New Master had claimed.

Naruto thought that maybe New Master's Friend was mistaken and didn't know New Master that well. But New Master's Friend must obviously know him better than Naruto did. Of _course_ he knew New Master better than Naruto. Naruto only knew New Master for a couple of hours!

New Master's Friend had also said that New Master was very violent. He said that he didn't expect Naruto to last long because of that violence.

Naruto had hoped that New Master's Friend was lying. But then New Master had shown that his Friend was in fact not lying.

Although New Master had not hit his friend many times, he had hit with accuracy and force.

Naruto had been beaten enough times himself to know that New Master knew exactly what he was doing and had done so many times in the past.

That side of New Master scared Naruto to the core.

He knew that hiding under the covers wouldn't change anything, but his legs were shaking too much for him to sneak anywhere. Besides, he had no idea what kind of place New Master lived in. All he knew was what he could see in the room he was currently in.

Naruto was essentially trapped.

Naruto stiffened when he heard the door open.

The trembling increased when he heard footsteps approach the bed.

The footsteps stopped. New Master was right next to him!

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><p>Sasuke didn't like what he saw when he entered the room.<p>

He saw a lump that he could identify as his angel curled up in a little ball shaking under the covers.

_Shit_.

Sasuke walked quietly to the side of the bed closest to where Naruto was, noticing how the trembling increased as the space between them decreased.

Sasuke paused at the side of the bed, observing the fear practically radiating from the trembling ball.

Sasuke knew that the damage Suigetsu had caused was extensive. It would take a while to restore the hope and trust in Naruto's sapphire eyes.

Sasuke knew that it would be hard. He no longer had the benefit of the doubt and Suigetsu's appearance had taken his previous efforts several steps behind where he was originally. But he was willing to take the challenge he was presented with.

Sasuke lifted his hand to touch his angel's shoulder.

Pausing before placing his hand on Naruto's shoulder, he whispered, "Naruto."

Said blonde tensed when his name was whispered.

Sasuke placed his hand on Naruto's shoulder. He could feel slight trembling and almost regretted the action—almost.

"Naruto." Sasuke repeated, "Naruto, I know you don't trust me much right now. But please listen to me now: I promise I didn't buy you for sex, nor will I intentionally hurt you."

Naruto was completely silent.

Giving a slight sigh, Sasuke removed his hand and stepped back from the bed.

"I won't force you into anything. Dinner will be ready at 6:30. If you don't want to come out, your dinner will be brought here at 7." Sasuke said in a soft tone.

"I hope to see you at dinner. If not, good night." Sasuke said gently before he left the room.

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><p><strong>Thanks so much for the support. I'll try to not take as long for the next update, but writers block just loves to tease me with ideas rather than words. Reviews make me smile a lot =)<strong>


	6. Routine

**Disclaimer: No one in the Naruto world belongs to me.**

**It feels so nice to be home again! It kinda sucks that I only have a week to hang out with my friends before visiting family way off in the middle of places-my-friends-aren't. Then I go back to school for winter term. But luckily I only take one class during that term. But damn, my high school friends still have finals so I barely have time to see them before I leave. Thank god for facebook and text message!**

**Onward with the story now!**

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><p>It had been almost a week and a half since Naruto was bought from the auction house.<p>

For the most part, Naruto had isolated himself inside the guest bedroom. Whenever he heard footsteps outside, he would usually hide himself underneath the covers until whoever it was left. At times when he was in the adjoining bathroom, Naruto would rush to make sure the door was locked and hide; usually in the tub if it wasn't wet.

Noticing this in the first two days, Sasuke had ordered that the only time people were allowed near the room he gave Naruto would be to deliver him his meal.

Mealtimes always followed the same ritual. Sasuke would eat in a 6 hour interval starting at 7:00am with breakfast. Lunch at 1:00pm. And finally, dinner at 7:00pm. He would personally invite Naruto to join him for whichever meal and telling him what meal they would be eating. Sometimes, he would even call Chouji, his reserve chef, to make something he thought Naruto would enjoy. Sasuke would also always make sure that Naruto knew that if he didn't join Sasuke for the meal then a tray would be placed outside his room a half hour later.

For the first week, Sasuke took leave from work, even though he was president of Uchiha Corp. so that he could be there if Naruto left the room. He would even set up Naruto's tray of food himself; he made sure it was aesthetically pleasing and even added a different flower each day, sending his maid and/or driver to a flower shop.

But soon his vice president, Shikamaru, had told him that he couldn't take a second week of unexpected leave from the company. His reasoning was that it was too "troublesome" to lead the company for another week. Sasuke was going to ignore his associate when the vice president pointed out that Sasuke had previously set up many meetings during both weeks that were now going to be condensed into one and the company should not lose support or clients due to the Uchiha's whim.

Conceding to go back to work, Sasuke had made arrangements to make sure the schedule he had set with his angel was not disrupted. He knew that changing things would not help Naruto's adjustment to his new environment any easier and would only serve to make rebuilding the meager trust even harder.

To help Naruto adjust to the slight change of it not being Sasuke delivering his lunch like usual, Sasuke told Naruto while inviting him to Sunday's lunch that it would be Sasuke's personal secretary, Hinata, who would be visiting the apartment during lunch hours. He reminded Naruto of the new change during his invitation to dinner and breakfast, too.

As much as it pained Sasuke that it would not be he who served his angel to lunch with the slight possibility of Naruto finally leaving the room, he knew he could trust his secretary.

Sasuke had hired the Hyuuga because his old classmate, Neji Hyuuga had asked for the favor. Normally, Sasuke wouldn't hire people as favors, deeming that people should earn their jobs through hard work rather than family names, but Neji had explained to him that his cousin was the heiress of Hyuuga Inc., and wanted outside work experience before inheriting the company. Hinata had also stated that she would have been happy with a simple desk job near the bottom of the company, but Neji insisted that she should not work with people who might seek to influence and manipulate her.

Agreeing with the elder from past experience, and having been slightly impressed—Uchiha are not easily impressed so slightly means a great deal—by Hinata's honest motivation, Sasuke agreed to hire her as his secretary.

For the most part, Sasuke wasn't displeased. His new secretary, after a hesitant start, did her work with a practiced professionalism. She never bothered people, she wouldn't let people push her over when they were pissed with her boss, she worked efficiently, and best of all: she never drooled over the president like so many other fangirls in the company.

Sasuke's secretary also had a calming demeanor about her. Maybe it was how slightly vulnerable she came off as, even though when push comes to shove she is the opposite, or maybe it was her quiet shyness that allowed others to lower their initial barriers.

In any case, his secretary was one of the only people from work Sasuke knew would never hurt his angel. She was also one of the only ones who he could send out to do this job without raising much suspicion. Sasuke also knew that his angel would find little reason to fear her as he regretfully feared Sasuke.

That was the main reason he had assigned his secretary with the immeasurably important task of delivering his angel his lunch.

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><p>Hinata was waiting in the lobby for Mr. Uchiha's driver to take her to his home.<p>

She was a little startled when Mr. Uchiha had told her of her newest job—usually her job entailed of little things like organizing all the files that piled around her boss as well as scheduling the various meetings he needs to attend.

But she was nonetheless flattered. Her usually stoic and all-business boss would trust her with such an obviously personal job. No one in the company's history has ever been asked to visit one of Mr. Uchiha's loved ones, or so Hinata assumed as she was too shy to ask.

It came to her as a surprise that Mr. Uchiha even _had_ a loved one. Hinata didn't want to seem rude, but Mr. Uchiha never gave any indication of genuinely caring for anyone really. And even though Hinata had only been his secretary for almost a year now, she had never had to remind Mr. Uchiha of any family or friendly meeting or reminder like her father's personal assistant has had to do many times in the past.

Hinata smiled a little as she remembered Mr. Uchiha's directions for her new lunch time assignment as well as the precautions Mr. Uchiha has taken for the task.

_"You are to walk to the guest bedroom just before 1:00. At 1:00, you are to softly knock on the door and invite Naruto to lunch in the dining room and remind him that there is no pressure. If he doesn't respond, then let him know that you will be leaving a tray with his lunch outside the door in half an hour. The tray will have his lunch, a glass of water, another glass of milk, and a flower in a little vase. There shall be plenty to pick from nearby. At 1:30, let him know his lunch is by the door then leave the hallway. After you are sure he has received his meal you may come back."_

Hinata's smile grew as her eyes skimmed the envelope Mr. Uchiha had given her when she told him that she was getting ready to leave. It said _"__Naruto_" on the front and "_Love,__Sasuke_" on the back just underneath the seal. It was obviously hand-written.

Out of respect for her boss, she didn't ask what was written inside and told him instead that she would be sure to give Mr. Naruto the letter.

"Are you Ms. Hinata Hyuuga?"

Hinata jumped at the sudden voice behind her. Blushing because of her reaction and habit, she turned around.

"Y-yes. That's m-me." Hinata stuttered, blushing even more at this reaction as well. She never liked her stutters, her father was forever telling her that as the Hyuuga heiress she should try harder to not come off as weak. Neji assured her that it was nothing to be ashamed of and that she would grow out of it soon. But she was 20 now and she was starting to doubt her cousin's assurance.

"Are y-you Mr. K-Kiba Inuzuka?" Hinata stuttered again.

"Just Kiba, actually." The man told her, his hand rubbing the back of his neck with his own blush growing on his cheeks. Maybe he too had a nervous reaction to meeting new people and was embarrassed by it like she.

"Mr. K-Kiba then," Hinata amended, "are you to take m-me to Mr. Uchiha's apartment?"

"Just Kiba, and yep, whenever you're ready." Mr. Kiba said as he opened the door for her and stood to the side to let her pass.

Hinata blushed at the gesture, even though she receives the same treatment almost everywhere she goes. She walked with Mr. Kiba to the car he led her to and sat in the passenger's seat after he held that door open for her as well. He probably was trained to do so like the family driver was, though he rushed to the door faster than the family driver does.

The drive to Mr. Uchiha's was filled with idle chatter, or Mr. Kiba asking questions about herself with Hinata stuttering the answers. The questions were personal yet vague, like simple likes or dislikes and Mr. Kiba didn't mention her stuttering at all, so Hinata was enjoying herself. Then Mr. Kiba told her, to Hinata's surprise, that it was her turn to ask the questions.

"U-um, w-why did Mr. Uchiha ask m-me to deliver lunch to Mr. Naruto?" Hinata asked.

"Naruto, huh? So that's blondie's name." Mr. Kiba said in a light tone.

"Mr. K-Kiba?" Hinata inquired for his reaction surprised her. Why wouldn't Mr. Uchiha's driver know of his loved one?

"Just Kiba. Anyway, the boss seemingly 'rescued' this blond kid around a week and a half ago. He's pretty whipped by this kid, too. He carried him all the way from the auction house the kid was sold in all the way to the guest room. He made me change the sheets because apparently blondie needs special sheets, according to boss. And he practically ripped his dresser apart looking for pajamas for the kid." Mr. Kiba explained.

"Oh. I-I see." Hinata said as she tried to absorb the new information.

"Yeah, crazy right? So he sends me and Sakura to buy blondie new clothes for him in the morning. When we come back, boss was throwing Suigetsu—you know boss's friend, right?"

Hinata nodded, Mr. Suigetsu would often barge in demanding to see Mr. Uchiha, telling Hinata loudly that "best friends don't need appointments"; even though Mr. Uchiha would storm out before Hinata could stop anything and either coldly tell Mr. Suigetsu to leave or forcefully make him.

"Boss was throwing Suigetsu's limp body on the couch. Sakura—oh, she's boss's maid—said that boss had beaten him again. She's a med student so I didn't argue. Plus that happens more than once a month. Anyway, apparently Suigetsu accused boss of buying blondie for S&M sex and boss screwed things up by beating the shi—beating Suigetsu," Mr. Kiba amended with a side glance at Hinata, "in front of blondie."

"Oh." Hinata repeated.

"Yeah, so now boss is trying to show blondie that he's not a bad guy. The way he treats blondie it's like he's been struck with love at first sight. A bit fast, I mean, this is the _boss_ y'know? I didn't think he was capable of human emotion!"

Hinata gave a nervous giggle at the little joke made about Mr. Uchiha.

"So anyway, as part of his 'good-guy-who-won't-hurt-you' thing he's got going on, boss has been leaving trays of food outside blondie's door for every meal. But Shikamaru told him that he can't take another week off work—and he was pretty pissed about that—so now he has you to deliver blondie's lunch." Mr. Kiba finished.

"I-I see." Hinata repeated her earlier statement.

The rest of the car ride did not take long, and was filled with Mr. Kiba explaining both how Mr. Uchiha would act before he frightened Mr. Naruto and how he would act afterwards. It surprised Hinata to hear how "whipped" Mr. Uchiha was over Mr. Naruto over such a very short period of time. But the emotion is real, judging from Mr. Kiba's description as well as Hinata's experience with Mr. Uchiha's changed demeanor when Mr. Naruto was the subject.

"Here we are!" Mr. Kiba announced as he turned the car to park inside the apartment complex's garage.

"Th-thank you." Hinata stuttered as she made way to open the door.

"No wait—Lemme get it!" Mr. Kiba protested. Before Hinata could say how she didn't mind, Mr. Kiba was out his door and hurrying to Hinata's side.

"Th-thank you, M-Mr. K-Kiba." Hinata repeated with a little blush.

"Just Kiba, and no prob." Mr. Kiba said as he led the way to Mr. Uchiha's apartment.

Once the pair reached Mr. Uchiha's penthouse, Mr. Kiba opened the door once again for Hinata.

"No fair, Kiba! You never open the door for me unless I'm carrying something!" a voice called from inside.

"Maybe that's because Hinata here is more of a lady than you!" Mr. Kiba called back with a blush of his own on his face as he helped Hinata out of the jacket she was wearing and placed it in the coat closet.

Blushing at the mention of her name, Hinata peered around Mr. Kiba to see who he was talking to. Across the apartment, she saw a lady with pink hair sitting at a kitchen counter. When she saw Hinata, the lady's glare at Mr. Kiba morphed into a welcoming smile.

"Hello! Are you from Sasuke's work?" the lady asked in a polite tone.

"Y-yes, I-I'm Mr. Uchiha's s-secretary, Hinata Hyuuga." Hinata stammered as Mr. Kiba led her to the kitchen to join the lady.

"What are you doing here, Sakura?" Mr. Kiba asked when they reached their destination.

"I'm on my lunch break, Kiba." The lady told Mr. Kiba with a less polite but more natural tone for her Hinata guessed, "I don't have class for another hour and a half."

"Still doesn't explain why you're here." Mr. Kiba grumbled.

"You idiot, Chouji brought over fettuccine alfredo!" the lady told Mr. Kiba, gesturing towards her plate in front of her as if that was self-explanatory.

Mr. Kiba huffed a little and turned towards the stove to get his own meal.

"Anyway, it's nice to meet you, Hinata. I'm Sakura Haruno, Sasuke's maid.

"H-hello Ms. Haruno." Hinata stammered her greeting.

"Just Sakura is fine." Ms. Haruno said with a smile.

"M-Ms. Sakura then." Hinata amended, "Where is the guest r-room where Mr. Naruto is s-so I can invite him to join us f-for lunch?"

Ms. Sakura pointed towards a hallway on the other side of the apartment and told Hinata that the guest room was the very last. Hinata turned and started to walk towards the room and didn't catch Ms. Sakura send Mr. Kiba a questioning look which was returned with a slight blush and a shrug.

As she came closer to the door, Hinata noticed how her heels made a slightly louder noise in the hallway rather than the open foyer. She didn't pay it much attention until she heard a muffled squeak of fear followed by some rustling inside the room. Slightly startled by this, Hinata slowed her stepping to her heals would not make such a loud sound.

Hesitating in front of the door a little, Hinata gave a soft knock, "M-Mr. Naruto?"

No answer.

Trying again, she knocked the door once more, "M-Mr. Naruto?"

There was no sound emitting from the room.

Remembering that Mr. Uchiha had given her in the instructions a warning that Mr. Naruto might not respond, Hinata followed the rest of her directions.

"Mr. Naruto, my n-name is Hinata Hyuuga, I-I'm Mr. Uchiha's s-secretary. I-I'm here to inform y-you that l-lunch is ready in the k-kitchen. I-It's fettuccine a-alfredo today. I-if you join us f-for lunch, y-you'll also be joining Mr. K-Kiba and Ms. Sakura as well."

No response.

"B-but you don't h-have to join us!" Hinata quickly assured the silent Mr. Naruto behind the door, "I-In h-half an hour, I-I am to bring y-you a tray w-with your lunch."

Giving a little sigh at the silence she received in return, Hinata walked back—as quietly as she could—toward the kitchen.

"D-does Mr. Naruto ever r-respond when offered h-his lunch?" Hinata asked the other two as she reached the kitchen.

"'Friad not. Blondie hasn't left that room or made a peep since boss threw out Suigetsu." Mr. Kiba said as he handed Hinata a plate with a healthy portion of fettuccine alfredo on it.

"Th-thank you." Hinata stuttered as she sat down next to Ms. Sakura.

"Naruto, was it? Well Naruto doesn't make a sound since he's so scared of Sasuke. Judging by the reaction, I'm guessing he has been beaten in the past." Ms. Sakura informed Hinata, "So Sasuke set up this meal routine to help Naruto adjust to his surroundings. He also tries to tell Naruto that he won't let anything hurt him after he leaves the tray outside the door."

"I-I see." Hinata said before quietly eating her lunch while Ms. Sakura and Mr. Kiba talked to each other and occasionally participated in the conversation.

While Hinata was eating, Ms. Sakura started to prepare a tray for Mr. Naruto. She made sure the fettuccine alfredo was in the middle, adding the needed silverware and two glasses of water and milk. After she was finished with that, she placed a small vase on the right corner and went off to the balcony to get a flower.

"You got more flowers?" Mr. Kiba asked when she returned with a lily.

"Yeah, I dropped by Ino's flower shop before I got here." Ms. Sakura replied as she placed the lily in the vase.

"Probably to swoon over boss again." Mr. Kiba said in an undertone.

Ms. Sakura kicked him in the shins before grabbing the tray she had prepared.

"Here," she said sweetly to Hinata, "it's about time for you to deliver Naruto's lunch."

"Oh, r-right." Hinata looked at the clock and it was 1:27.

Before she left the kitchen and the heated whispering between the friends to go back to the guest room, Hinata placed the letter Mr. Uchiha had given her on the tray in front of the lily.

"M-Mr. Naruto?" Hinata called softly after knocking on the door. She was greeted once again by silence, but she did hear shuffling inside as she walked in the hall so she knew someone was in there.

"Mr. Naruto, I-I'm leaving a tray with y-your lunch outside the door." Hinata informed the silent boy inside. Remembering that Mr. Kiba and Ms. Sakura had talked about how Mr. Uchiha would whisper things about not hurting him through the door, Hinata decided to continue.

"I-it was a delicious lunch today, M-Ms. Sakura t-told me that Mr. Chouji m-makes the best fettuccine alfredo. W-we were talking about M-Mr. Uchiha today a-and I r-really believe that h-he has no desire t-to hurt you i-in any way. P-please remember that. I-I will be back t-tomorrow at the s-same time. H-have a pleasant evening M-Mr. Naruto."

With that she left the hallway, returning to the kitchen to rejoin Ms. Sakura and Mr. Kiba.

"Ready to go?" Mr. Kiba asked, heading towards the coat closet to retrieve her things.

"D-don't we h-have to wait f-for Mr. Naruto?" Hinata asked as she was handed her coat.

"No need, blondie already took the tray." Mr. Kiba said in a light tone, gesturing towards the hallway.

Looking past Mr. Kiba, Hinata saw that he had told the truth.

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><p><strong>Wow that was a long chapter. Thanks for the support for this story! I'm basically writing it as it goes along, I have concrete ideas on where I want it to go, but getting the story to these checkpoints in my mind is proving to take longer than expected. Reviews and feedback is always appreciated and always makes me smile ;)<strong>


	7. Hoping for a difference

**Disclaimer: I own nothing and no one.**

**Whenever I come home I have way too much time to write…makes me feel like I have a lack of a life…I don't mind it, it's just something that repeatedly pops into my head. Like how certain words sound. Because the English language is so weird. And if you repeat a word enough times, it loses all meaning. Like I can type a mantra of ''" and even now I am doubting if I am using the right letters. Try it sometime O.o the results are so accurate.**

**Onward with the story!**

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><p>Naruto Uzumaki no longer knew what to do.<p>

It had been almost half a month since he was sold to New Master and he didn't know what to do.

Usually by now he'd be searching for somewhere to escape from the current Master's clutches. He had already explored every inch of the room he was currently staying in; he refused to call it _his_ room even in his mind since he had long since learned to never grow attached to anything.

But also, usually by now he had been abused senselessly; usually by being forced to _pleasure_ his Master.

New Master seemed different, but New Master's Friend seemed to think otherwise.

Naruto was so confused. He _wanted_ to believe New Master. He desperately wanted to believe New Master's promise that he wouldn't hurt Naruto. But New Master's Friend had said that New Master had bought him for sex and would beat him. Like all the others.

Then New Master beat New Master's Friend up! Naruto knew that New Master knew exactly what he was doing.

So Naruto had decided that New Master could not be trusted.

But now he was questioning the decision.

But more than anything, he longed for a life where he wouldn't be in a position of choosing between hopes and past experiences.

Naruto truly hated his life and his existence. He would have given up long ago and ended everything, but he kept hearing a voice reminding him '_Only the weak give up.'_

Naruto Uzumaki is not weak. Naruto Uzumaki keeps fighting, and keeps surviving.

But Naruto Uzumaki's life has been hell.

Naruto never knew his parents. He was left at an orphanage in a cliché basket. No letter, just an average sheet; not even a blanket to call his own.

The orphanage was a dreary place, it was in the rundown part of town and hardly had any funding.

Naruto tried to make friends, but his friends were all adopted leaving Naruto with people he refused to get close to in fear of getting hurt when he lost them too.

After twelve depressing years Naruto didn't want to dwell on, the orphanage shut down. It had finally ran out of money. All the remaining children were sent away; the younger to another orphanage with the older veterans going to a group home.

Naruto felt apathy towards the group home he stayed at. He had already learned to not get close to others, not that it mattered since he was constantly bullied by those older than him and alienated by those afraid of the bullies that had targeted Naruto.

He stayed there for about two years; until he was abducted.

Naruto was taking a walk, not bothering to think of a destination as he just wanted to avoid going to the group home until necessary. He had noticed a van circling the area he was walking in, but at the time paid it no mind as he didn't care what others did as long as they left him alone. He didn't notice his mistake until it stopped in front of him and some men shoved inside.

Once inside the van, someone had shoved him to the ground while another put a cloth of chloroform over the lower half of his face until he passed out.

When he woke up, he was in a large cage of sorts. He noticed that his cage was in a line of cages, each with a different person inside. He didn't have any time to ask the person next to him what was going on when the door to the big room they were in opened and two people walked through.

The entire room went silent then, so Naruto followed suit as he was completely lost and confused. The two people kept walking slowly, passing the other cages, then came to a stop in front of Naruto's.

"Here you are, blonde hair and blue eyes. Male and young." One of them said, a man with an overlarge belly.

"Yes, thank you." The other said in one of the most sinister voices Naruto had ever heard. It gave him the creeps! The man speaking had long dark hair, pale, white skin and creepy yellow eyes.

That was when Naruto was introduced to First Master. He became First Master's "personal pet", with First Master often calling him in just so he could rape Naruto. Sometimes he had friends with him. First Master was showing off for them when he gave Naruto his scars on his cheek.

But through it all, Naruto had kept fighting back. He would constantly try to run away; sometimes he bit First Master when he was forced to 'pleasure' him; and he was downright disobedient.

Finally, First Master got tired of Naruto's antics after about a year. Naruto hoped that New Master would simply throw him out to the streets, but New Master had instead taken him to a building and sold him in an auction.

That is where he met Second Master. Naruto continued his disobedience and tried just as many times to escape, but when Second Master got tired of his antics like First Master, Naruto was sent back to the big building and auction.

The process would repeat with Third and Fourth Master. Naruto wouldn't remain at one place for longer than a year.

Naruto assumed that the same thing would happen with New Master, but New Master had yet to do much.

Of course he scared the living shit out of Naruto, but other than that he was different. New Master was _kind_.

After scaring Naruto, New Master seemed to regret it. As in truly regret the action rather than regret being seen. It was _possible_ that New Master had beaten his friend for insulting and scaring Naruto, but Naruto refused to let himself hope for that answer.

New Master also seemed determined to make Naruto believe the promise he made about not hurting him. New Master didn't even force Naruto into facing him! He provided for Naruto while keeping a safe distance until Naruto chose to leave the room.

Naruto was seriously starting to reconsider his decision that New Master was like all his other Masters. More to the point, Naruto was starting to change his mind.

He wasn't sure if he was ready to face New Master yet. But he was going to try to tonight.

Since tonight would be a big move for Naruto, he decided to start out easy by doing something he hadn't done at breakfast until now. Using a piece of paper he found in a pad in one of the drawers of the desk inside the room he was staying in, Naruto had written very simply, '_Raman for dinner, please_.'

He had timed New Master's eating schedule, so after New Master left the hallway after inviting Naruto for breakfast, Naruto wrote his request and slipped the paper underneath the door.

He was waiting crouched against the wall next to the door when New Master had returned with Naruto's tray of food.

New Master had gasped when, Naruto assumed, he saw the piece of paper. The tray was set down, a little noisier than usual, and New Master had read the note then and there. Naruto assumed.

New Master then told Naruto through the door that there will indeed be Raman for dinner if Naruto wanted and assured him that there will be plenty to eat.

New Master then said his customary promise about never hurting or allowing anything to hurt Naruto and left.

Naruto then let the breath he was not aware that he was holding in loose. He listened to the doorway to hear if anyone was in the echo-y hallway. When he was sure that no one was there, he opened the door halfway and quickly grabbed his tray.

For breakfast, there was a carnation flower with his meal. It smelled nice.

Naruto ate slower than usual as his stomach was filled with nervous butterflies.

Tonight is the night. Tonight he'll see if New Master is really different from the rest.

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><p><strong>Sorry it's a kind of short chapter, but I wrote another chapter for my other story in like two days; wrote an entire oneshot today (it's really cute, you should totally read it); and after that wrote this one.<strong>

**Heh heh, I guess I just wanted to give out my own form of Christmas (or holiday for the politically correct—not me at all—) present.**

**Anyway, hate it? Love it? (I hope so)**

**Drop me a review and let me know.**

**And thank you so much for those who favorite/alert this story! I'm writing this on the fly at times and the support keeps me going.**

**And a special thanks to those who review! I take all reviews into account when I write and try to answer as many questions as I can or think of an answer to be wrote into the story at a later time.**

**Love you all and MERRY CHRISTMAS!**


	8. A step forwards

**Disclaimer: I don't own anyone in the Naruto world.**

**It's January Term here at school. I have an English class about short stories, hopefully emphasis on the 'short' because I never liked reading the epics. Well, not so much the reading as the extreme analyzing of them. I'm pretty sure the authors didn't intend their works to be analyzed and dissected the way they are today but rather simply to be read and enjoyed so they will be bought so the authors will be paid.**

**So onward with a story that is meant to be enjoyed and reviewed which is MY payment as I get no $$ for these.**

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><p>Sasuke couldn't remember when he had been this—dare he say—happy.<p>

Not when his family was alive and they went out on their family outings. Not when his mother would let him stay up with her while she ran her errands. Not when his older brother would let him follow him around. Not when his father finally gave him a compliment. Especially not after they died in a car crash and left him Uchiha Corp.

No, Sasuke Uchiha was the happiest he's ever been, and it was all because of his angel.

The reason for his current state of joy was because his efforts for trying to rebuild trust were finally paying off! Maybe this meant that he was whipped, but Sasuke didn't care. Holding Naruto in his arms was the deciding factor for him. And one look into those captivating eyes and he was hooked.

And now his angel may want to eat dinner with him! Well, he requested ramen for dinner. . . . Maybe not a yes to his dinner invitations, but at least Naruto was responding! And what's more is that Naruto sent his request directly to—well left his request for—Sasuke. Not Hinata who came during lunch, but during breakfast for Sasuke to read.

So after work today, Sasuke had his driver take him to the local supermarket and help him buy all of the ramen in the store. The trip back to the car required at least two store employees who at first openly wondered why Sasuke had bought all of their ramen, including the boxes waiting to be shelved, even despite his driver whispering that they should wait until Sasuke leaves before asking. One quick glare—they weren't worthy of an Uchiha Glare—from Sasuke shut them up, though.

Now he was preparing a ramen feast for Naruto. He didn't call for his cook like he usually did to make Naruto's dinner. He wanted to cook the meal Naruto had requested for himself.

He didn't particularly enjoy ramen, but his angel would get whatever his angel wanted. If his angel wanted ramen, then his angel would get ramen. Since Sasuke didn't know what type of ramen Naruto liked, he went on the safe side and prepared a bowl of each type. Sasuke was amazed by the sheer number of types of ramen the store had! Bowls were practically covering the counter.

Sasuke checked the clock, it was almost 7. He quickly stuck the microwavable ramen into the microwave, thanking his judgment to save these for last. When it was 6:58, Sasuke quickly transferred the contents of the microwave to the counter and quickly passed his room to make himself presentable. This would be the first time Naruto would see him since the bastard Suigetsu scared him. Sasuke wanted to look nice and proper.

It was 7:00 when Sasuke reached Naruto's room. He straightened his tie once more and knocked on the door.

Sasuke's stomach seemed to clench at the silence that followed the knock. He tried to not take the silence personally; his angel was probably still frightened.

"Naruto," Sasuke paused and decided that he should continue the routine. "Naruto, dinner is ready. Today there is ramen, like you asked. I got every flavor for you because I didn't know what kind of ramen you wanted. The entire counter is covered with bowls for you. If you don't want to come to dinner," Sasuke paused just the slightest before speaking again, "you can pass a message under the door again with what flavor you want and I will give you your dinner at 7:30 as usual."

Sasuke stayed in front of his angel's door. He would be lying if he said that he wasn't greatly disappointed. He honestly thought that Naruto had requested the ramen because he was planning on joining him for dinner.

Sasuke walked back to the kitchen and pulled out the salad he had prepared himself while making the multiple bowls of ramen for Naruto. Extra tomato. He decided that he should not take Naruto's reluctance personally. Even requesting dinner would have been a huge step for his angel. It meant that Naruto had made the decision to try to trust him. He would probably ask for something again tomorrow morning. Sasuke just hoped that it wouldn't take another month for him to take another step.

He was about to put away his own empty plate his meal had been when he heard a door open.

Sasuke looked up. The guest door was opening!

Sasuke saw his angel shakily look out the door.

Naruto then walked out of the room and down the hallway slowly but with a determined yet still obviously fearful look in his eyes that were facing downward. As he got closer to leaving the hallway, his already slow speed fell.

He stepped outside the hallways and looked up to see Sasuke in the kitchen across the foyer and froze.

Obsidian eyes locked with cerulean and were instantly captivated.

Naruto's gaze returned to the ground, eyes filled with renewed fear but the determination stayed true. He started to walk towards the kitchen with fear radiating from every step he took as it obviously grew with each step.

In the kitchen, Sasuke's eyes were filled with renewed happiness. His angel was joining him for dinner! He was in the room with him! Well, he's in the foyer. But they _will_ be in the same room! They are going to eat together!

His angel looked better than his memory served. His hair was brighter than he thought. His eyes pulled him in further than he thought possible. His skin glowed more naturally than he remembered. His angel is just beautiful.

Naruto had arrived in the kitchen and was openly staring at the bowls of ramen. His eyes were wide with surprise and Sasuke could see happiness in them. He looked over to Sasuke, but seemed to regret the action and quickly looked back down to the ground.

Sasuke's smile faltered a little, but didn't leave his face. He was still practically radiating joy from the fact that his angel left his room and is joining them for dinner. Plus, he knew that smiles would help calm his angel and let him know that he meant no harm. But that didn't mean Naruto's clear fear of him after all this time didn't sting a little.

"Would you like some ramen?" Sasuke asked in a tone he hoped came off as light and inviting.

Naruto tensed up a little as he nodded yes. It seemed as if he was expecting to be taken advantage of for his desire.

Seeing this, Sasuke stepped away from his angel in case Naruto was expecting to be grabbed and told him, "Then take as much as you want. All this is yours." Naruto's eyes widened in surprise, "All that I ask," he tensed once more only more noticeably, "is that you eat at the dining room table."

With that, Sasuke turned and walked to the dining room himself. He was aware of the eyes that followed him but decided against turning back. He knew that Naruto was deciding on whether or not to trust him. Sasuke truly hoped he would.

Sasuke still had his wine from his salad dinner, and along the way he picked up another salad with extra tomato. He sat down and took a sip.

Naruto then walked into the room with a bowl in each hand, and walked out again.

Sasuke looked at the bowls; they were the ones with the most ingredients inside. Before he could wonder what Naruto was doing, his angel walked in again with two more bowls and placed them on the table and left again.

The process repeated itself until every bowl from the kitchen counter was placed on the table.

Then Naruto sat himself down in front of the first bowls with an expression of pure happiness.

He then practically inhaled his bowl in seconds, even going so far as to drink the broth from the bowl.

His angel then placed the empty bowl neatly to the side and grabbed the second and ate with the same inhuman speed.

Sasuke watched the process in a sort of awe at the speed Naruto ate with. He then placed his own fork down, unable to find hunger while watching the food leave the bowl in such a manner.

Naruto was on his seventh bowl when Sasuke decided to try to start a conversation. He was itching to know more about his angel.

"Naruto," said blonde tensed and froze as he was placing the bowl in his neat pile. "How do you like your room?" Sasuke continued.

Naruto didn't relax, but he did set down the bowl in the pile and hesitantly reached for another bowl. His eyes were filled with fear as they were set firmly on the table.

Sasuke saw that the fear in Naruto's eyes was less than the kind he saw when his angel first stepped out of the hallway.

"Because the room is yours. For as long as you are here, that room will be yours, unless you want another. Just let me know if your room is unsuitable for you and we can find you another." Sasuke continued to talk and Naruto continued to stare at the table and the bowl in front of him.

Sasuke then reminded himself that coming outside the room at all was a big step for his angel. Sasuke inwardly berated himself for pushing him while Naruto was clearly not ready to talk yet.

"It's alright, you don't have to answer. I apologize for trying to make you before you are ready. This must be a big step for you and I thank you for making it." Sasuke smiled at the last sentence to show his sincerity.

Naruto looked up. His sapphire eyes seemingly bearing into Sasuke's soul as he decided whether or not to trust him.

Naruto's eyes softened and he nodded before reaching for the bowl he had in front of him and inhaled the contents within seconds.

The two ate—Naruto ate while Sasuke sipped his wine—in silence, but a comfortable silence.

When Naruto had finished, there was no more ramen left on the table. Sasuke couldn't believe that one person could eat that amount of ramen, yet he had seen Naruto consume it all with his own eyes!

Naruto made to clear his piles of empty bowls but Sasuke had stopped him by saying that he would take care of it.

Naruto nodded once more and stood up from the table. Sasuke stood up as well and grabbed the first pile and headed towards the kitchen.

"If you want anything else, just ask. There's no need to be afraid." Sasuke called as he saw Naruto head back to his room.

". . .Thank you."

Sasuke spun around, almost disbelieving what he had just heard. He heard his Naruto whisper his thanks in a quiet but even tone.

He saw his angel in front of his room with the door open. Light flooding from the room and seemingly make him glow in contrast to the darkened hallway. His angel had a small but sincere smile on his face.

Sasuke smiled in response and answered, "You're welcome."

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><p><strong>And there's the chapter.<strong>

**Wooh! I wrote that in one day. ONE DAY, sucker! But I probably should read my homework. I hadn't looked at that since class ended and I probably should considering it'll be discussed in class tomorrow. It'll probably be dissected and we'd be asked to explain what the author meant by a certain phrase. I get that authors like to convey messages in their stories, but I still think that the author's primary focus was whether or not their work would be sold or well liked.**

**But that's just me.**

**Anyhoo, please review and lemme know what you think of the story so far ^_^**


	9. A working visit

**Disclaimer: I own no one in the Naruto world.**

**I'm SUPPOSED to be writing my paper about Nathaniel Hawthorn's _The Birthmark_. But my inner muse tells me to not start until the sun goes down. My muse has given me some bitchin' papers and projects that proved my teachers who claimed such things could not be done in one night wrong in the past so I listen to her. I should really name her, considering that I take her demands so seriously. But who can blame me? She is the one responsible for my story ideas. Like I'm in the process of thinking of the plot details for three separate stories, as well as figuring out how to BS this paper like it's nobody's business. No—bad inner muse! This is a _college_ class! BS-ing is reserved for journal-like things and reviews. NOT for papers that make up 15+% of my grade. Oh, how she sways me though.**

**My muse refuses to work with me for the paper though. She demands I write this instead.**

**I always cave into her demands. Onwards with the story!**

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><p>Sasuke was excited. He normally never got "excited" or happy in most ways when his work was involved.<p>

Ever since he inherited the company after he was essentially orphaned, his work has been a reminder of who he has lost.

Plus, Uchiha Corp deals with other lesser but still influential companies with asses thinking they can tell Sasuke what to do because of his age. He was usually the one who had to deal with these asses because their inherent ass qualities make them believe they are too important to deal with the head of whichever department the wanted to talk about.

But today he didn't mind dealing with ass after ass whose favorite hobby is to attempt to hint that their companies were superior because they weren't run by a 24-year-old heir. Luckily, an Uchiha Glare kept all but the ones Sasuke openly insulted from saying anything but professional questions.

The reason he was excited for work today was not because he recently learned how to focus his formidable intimidating aura at whoever his glare was aimed at, but because his angel was going to visit him at work today.

It had been a month since Naruto had joined him for their ramen feast. Ever since that night, Naruto had been joining Sasuke for dinner every night.

During the first week, Naruto was still getting used to this new arrangement. He would wait for 15 minutes before leaving his room. During the week's progression, the fearful look in his eyes lessened whenever he exited his room. He would still freeze; but would send Sasuke an apologetic look afterwards that made Sasuke's heart soar with both admiration for the beauty of it as well as with happiness at the knowledge that his angel didn't want him to think that the reflex was because of him.

During that week, Naruto did not speak up while eating dinner, but there was improvement on the trust issue. While he did not talk, but Naruto did listen. Normally, Sasuke would not speak so much as he is a man of few words, but this was a necessary step and he found that he enjoyed talking for his angel.

Sasuke would talk about work mostly. Sometimes, he would give personal information. Naruto gave an adorable sympathetic look when Sasuke told him about the car accident his family was involved in. Naruto even laughed a little when Sasuke described the many times he's had to literally run away from hoards of fangirls.

During the second week after the feast, Naruto had been joining him for breakfast. He never talked then either, but that was more out of his morning daze. Naruto shown little fear while shuffling out of his room in the mornings, near 20 minutes after being called, but Sasuke saw the lack of fear was not caused by newfound courage but merely lack of awareness. Naruto would barely open his eyes from his squinting against the light to see what he was eating. He only peeked an eye so see if he needed a fork or a spoon or could use his hands. Other than that, his eyes stayed squinty and his mouth remained shut.

But during that week, Naruto started to talk with Sasuke during dinner. Naruto's contributions to the conversations were hesitant, as if he was afraid that if he said something wrong then he would be punished severely. But as the week went on, he would tell Sasuke—in few words—his opinion on a subject if Sasuke asked.

During the third week after their ramen feast, Sasuke's assistant told him that Naruto had started joining her and his staff for lunch. She told him that Naruto would take the same conversational tactics as the previous week: avoiding direct conversation and only speaking when asked a direct, opinionated question that he could answer yes or no to.

During that week, Naruto started to have actual conversations with Sasuke, sometimes even initiating them. He would tell Sasuke some things about himself, like his likes and dislikes, but nothing about his past. Any questions about his past Naruto shied away from, but he started to blossom this week. His angel started to smile in this week. His angel also started to finally trust Sasuke, letting Sasuke escort him to and from meals and even watching a movie or two with him.

Last week, Naruto had finally fully trusted Sasuke enough to show his energetic side. Naruto gained the courage to tell Sasuke how boring he found his room. He had a childlike wonder when Sasuke brought home a new Wii with a game called Wii Sports. Soon, the living room was filled with shouts as Naruto kept cursing out the little computer men called "Mii"s for not doing what he told or being unfair to little "Naru-chan".

Naruto also started bounding around the apartment, sometimes humming a made up tune without any lyrics. But he was prone to tripping and to fluster over simple logic causing Sasuke to affectionately call him (his) Dobe.

Naruto also gained the courage to shout "TEME!" whenever this happened.

Also during this week, Naruto had started to actually participate in the conversations being held during lunchtimes. Sasuke's assistant told him that Naruto was especially interested in his work. His assistant had been telling Naruto stories about the office.

So during dinner—tomato pasta, Sasuke had decided that they wouldn't have ramen unless it was a _special_ occasion because Sasuke was mentally scarred by their feast—Sasuke offered to let Naruto visit him at work; and to Sasuke's delight, Naruto excitedly accepted.

That's why Sasuke was excited about today.

His assistant had told him that she would take his angel to work when she came back from lunch.

So Sasuke was eagerly waiting for his angel to visit, even though he was currently in a meeting with someone he had dubbed "Mr. Jackass" as Sasuke never really bothered to match names to companies. And Mr. Jackass was certainly living up to his name. Right now, he was trying to argue that the Jackass Company—or whatever the hell it was called—should get one of Uchiha Corp's top lawyers from the legal department for little to minimum wage (for a top notch lawyer like the kind hired by Uchiha Corp) simply because they have been longtime clients and Mr. Jackass claimed to be a friend of Sasuke's late father.

"So you're telling me, that Uchiha Corp is _obligated_ to give you one of our best, on a discount?" Sasuke asked; making sure that venom found its way into his voice. He refused to let Mr. Jackass believe that he could get special treatment.

"Well, it's only fair. After all our two companies _have_ been working together for years." Mr. Jackass said as he smugly leaned back into the chair across from Sasuke.

"Hn. Well this has nothing to do with the company as the case is against you personally." Sasuke sent Mr. Jackass a glare—though not an Uchiha Glare. That trump card could be saved for later.

Mr. Jackass let loose a hearty chuckle, and Sasuke hated it. The only laugh he wanted to hear was the infectious, pure laughter that Naruto had; not some jackass who laughed because he believed Sasuke was kidding.

Mr. Jackass looked up and saw that Sasuke was still glaring and was not joking. "Now Sasuk—"

"MR. Uchiha." Sasuke cut off the jackass.

"…Mr. Uchiha," Mr. Jackass amended, though it looked like it caused him physical pain judging by the grimace he gave, "I am the president of the company. So if a lawsuit concerns me, it concerns the company."

"See, I might have considered politely telling you that there's no way in hell you'd get a discounted lawyer of our prestige if your case was a simple misunderstanding—"

"—Which it is." Mr. Jackass cut in with his grimace still in place, though the reasoning being more from anger rather than prideful pain.

"—But THIS," Sasuke continued as if the jackass hadn't interrupted, might as well not have with the amount of interest Sasuke was giving him, "is dealing with your sexual exploits."

"It was completely consensual." Mr. Jackass practically growled, though he didn't dare meet Sasuke's eye.

"The defendant is 16." Sasuke deadpanned, "And the hospital confirmed the presence of Rufilin."

Mr. Jackass paled at Sasuke's knowledge of the charges pressed against him.

"So if you still want to employ one of _our_ lawyers, you can forget any discount. In fact, we are going to demand that you pay double." Sasuke told Mr. Jackass in a tone that clearly stated that he would not change his position.

At this, Mr. Jackass stood up from the chair he was sitting in, almost making it fall. "Why you little—"

"Now kindly fuck off and leave my office." Sasuke said, finally unleashing the full might of the Uchiha Glare—now complete with pointed, deadly aura.

Mr. Jackass flinched at the sight, and shuddered afterwards at the aura aimed at him. With as much pride he could muster while trembling a little due to Sasuke's superb intimidation tactics, he turned to leave.

"Uchiha Corp has certainly gone downhill since Fugaku left office." He said, trying to sound haughty, but froze as the aura made the temperature surrounding him drop several degrees. Hesitantly, he turned around to a furious Uchiha.

"You know what?" Sasuke said in a softer voice, but the killing intent behind it sent chills down Mr. Jackass's spine. "I think Uchiha Corp has been flourishing _so_ much these past few years, that your support is no longer needed. And—" Sasuke said intensifying the Uchiha Glare to stop Mr. Jackass's urge to express the sudden anger at those words, "I believe that Uchiha Corp will be lending the defense our full support." Mr. Jackass stopped stuttering incoherent sounds of angered disbelief and froze. "The Defense will be getting the full might of our legal department, free of charge."

With this, Sasuke pressed a combination of buttons on his phone that alerted security to quickly get rid of unwanted idiots out of his office and off the premises. Not 30 seconds had passed until his security, a man with large eyebrows and a woman with buns in her hair, walked in and grabbed Mr. Jackass by each arm and escorted him out.

Sasuke sighed, relaxing into his expensive chair. He hasn't had to dismiss a client since last month, and that was because Uchiha Corp had struck a better deal.

He had a headache because of the whole ordeal and decided that he needed some water. Stepping outside his office because he also decided that he needed to stretch his legs a little, he wondered where his assistant was when he saw her empty desk. Shrugging internally, Sasuke assumed she was probably still out at lunch.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Uchiha." Several people greeted him as he walked over to a vending machine for water near the break room on his floor. Some of them were customary, albeit nervous, greetings by his employees, but too many were from fangirls in the office rushing up to him and thrusting their newly exposed cleavage out for Sasuke to ignore.

Normally, Sasuke would simply tell people to go back to work, but today he was pissed because of Mr. Jackass so he sent them a chilling glare. The speed in which people ran off—even those who were taking their break—would have surprised Sasuke had he been paying attention.

After getting his water, Sasuke began walking back to his office. He was annoyed that there were more people shuffling across his path than usual, but allowed it as they all seemed to be rushing to do their work quickly in fear of Sasuke's wrath falling upon them.

Sasuke's office was in view when he heard a timid, "G-good afternoon, M-Mr. Uchiha.

Turning around, Sasuke saw his assistant, and his angel!

A small grin—and Uchiha form of wide smile—formed across Sasuke's face. He had almost forgotten about his angel visiting him today because of Mr. Jackass! Sasuke's day instantly got better and his mood immediately lifting.

Naruto was dressed in black pants and an un-tucked orange dress shirt, and was clinging to his assistant's arm, slightly hiding behind her. Sasuke could tell from the way Naruto held himself that coming to a place with so many people obviously frightened him, but his small grin threatened to widen as he saw Naruto slightly relax when he saw him.

In a slightly faster pace than before, Sasuke walked over to his angel and his assistant.

When he got to the duo, Sasuke gently reached over to Naruto who was successfully transferred from clinging to Sasuke's assistant to clinging to Sasuke himself.

Sasuke's grin threatened to widen again as he felt Naruto bury his head into Sasuke's chest to avoid looking at the occasional pausing look by one of Sasuke's employees. Sasuke placed a comforting hand rubbing Naruto's back. After a minute or so, Naruto's trembling lessened as he relaxed into Sasuke's comforting embrace.

"Thank you, Ms. Hyuuga. If we need anything else, I'll let you know. Other than that, you can take things easy." Sasuke told his assistant as he led a nervous but still adorable little angel to the safety of his office.

"Y-yes, M-Mr. Uchiha. Th-thank you." Sasuke's assistant stammered as she headed to her own desk.

Sasuke opened the office door and guided his angel through it and quickly closed the door.

"You don't have to worry, no one will come in here without my permission." Sasuke assured his angel and loved the result his promise had on Naruto. As soon as he let the words sink in, Naruto relaxed his tense muscles. He whispered tentative thanks as he let go of Sasuke.

Sasuke would have hated the loss of contact, but he loved how Naruto was looking around the office in pure awe. Sasuke smirked as Naruto excitedly ran to the window and shouted that Sasuke should see how high they the view is.

Sasuke walked over and stood close to Naruto's side, practically touching, and nodded as his angel would point out things like smaller buildings, cars, and laughing delightfully at how small people looked from the height they were.

After Naruto had run out of things to point out in the window, he saw the expensive chair behind him and plopped down into it.

"How fast does this spin?" Naruto asked excitedly as he experimentally spun slowly in the chair.

"You don't want to spin too much, or else you'll fall over again, dobe." Sasuke said with a smirk as he remembered what had happened when Naruto discovered the chair in Sasuke's home office.

"Teme!" Naruto replied loudly as an adorable blush reached his scarred cheeks. With a few spins, Naruto was soon laughing at how easily he could make himself dizzy and calmed down enough to make his face his usual shade of tan. "You need more things in your office."

"What?" Sasuke asked, caught off guard by the sudden remark.

"Your office is so boring!" Naruto said as he stopped spinning to face Sasuke, "It's just like your office at home!"

Sasuke smiled at Naruto's words. It was the first time his angel had referred to Sasuke's apartment as "home".

Before Naruto could ask why Sasuke was smiling, the phone on Sasuke's desk started to beep indicating his assistant was calling.

Naruto looked questioningly at the light on top of the phone that lit up whenever there was a call as Sasuke walked over next to him to pick it up.

"Yes?" he asked in a clipped tone, he had specifically made sure to have no meetings after lunch.

"M-Mr. U-Uchiha, M-Mr. N-Nara—"

"—Is coming in." Sasuke's vice president said as he walked into Sasuke's office, cutting Sasuke's assistant off from her warning.

With a small squeak of fear, Naruto clutched Sasuke's arm and hid his face against it as he pulled his legs up into a sitting fetal position.

Sasuke freed his arm and quickly wrapped it around his angel's shoulder, pressing him protectively to his side as he glared at his vice president for scaring his angel by coming in unannounced. He knew that in Naruto's eyes that people barging into an enclosed area with him meant bad things, it was why he had stressed to his assistant yesterday to either try to deter anyone from visiting or at least giving ample warning beforehand. Sasuke's glare slightly deepened because his vice president had ignored the rules.

"What do you want, Nara?" Sasuke asked, letting the other know that his interruption was not welcomed.

His vice president's eyes lingered on Sasuke's trembling angel briefly until Sasuke tightened his hold possessively, then looked up to meet the glare and said, "I was just wondering if it was true that you dismissed Macon Inc.?"

So that's who Mr. Jackass was. Hunh.

Sasuke nodded his conferment, at the same time repositioning himself so that Naruto would be hiding into his chest so he could comfortingly rub his back once more.

His vice president glanced again at his angel, then looked back at Sasuke and sighed, "How troublesome. Why?"

"He demanded that we give him our best lawyer on discount to defend him against his rape—" Naruto flinched at the word and resumed shaking, "—charges against him."

"Is that the only reason?" his vice president asked with a look that said he knew that was not the real reason Sasuke dismissed such an old client.

Sasuke only returned a blank stare. There's no way in hell that he'd willingly admit the real reason.

His vice president held the stare for a little while, then sighed again muttering, "Troublesome." He then reached into his pocket and held out a manila envelope for Sasuke.

"Here," he said as Sasuke took it with his free hand. When Sasuke looked back up at him, his vice president explained "Shino told me to give it to you."

Nodding in understanding, Sasuke then gestured for his vice president to leave. He did so, muttering how "troublesome" Sasuke was being today.

When the door closed, Sasuke looked down to his angel and whispered, "Naruto, he's gone now." Sasuke continued to rub his angel's back soothingly.

Naruto hesitantly looked up at Sasuke, then to the door, and then back up to Sasuke. He let out a sigh of relief and rested his head against Sasuke once more.

"Thanks." Naruto whispered.

"What for?" Sasuke asked.

"For putting up with me." Naruto answered.

At this, Sasuke stopped rubbing his hand against Naruto's back while placing the envelope on the desk. He then placed his hands on Naruto's shoulders and kneeled down so the two were closer to being on eye level, with Sasuke slightly lower.

"Of course I'd 'put up' with you." Sasuke stated, frowning a little as he repeated the words his angel had used, "I care about you and will do everything in my power to keep you from having to fear anything."

Tears threatened to spill from Naruto's eyes as he let the words sink in. He then wriggled out of Sasuke's hold and pulled the elder into a grateful hug.

Sasuke returned the hug until Naruto pulled away. Sasuke then grabbed the envelope on his desk.

"Naruto, I have something for you." Sasuke said as he opened it.

"Something for me?" Naruto asked with a confused look in his eyes.

Sasuke smirked, "Yes, for you, dobe."

"Teme!" Naruto said loudly, but with a smile that let Sasuke know that Naruto understood that the name was a pet name rather than an insult.

Still smirking, Sasuke reached into the envelope and took out a necklace. The necklace had a bright blue gem, much like his angel's eyes, that twinkled and radiated in any light it could absorb. The gem was in between two metallic beads, all of which hung off a thick black string.

Naruto's eyes widened as he observed the jewelry dangling in front of him.

"This is a personalized GPS tracker. Whenever you wear it, I'll know exactly where you are. If you ever need me, I'll be able to find you." Sasuke explained as he placed the necklace around Naruto's neck.

Tears actually did fall from Naruto's face as he tackled Sasuke to the ground with a tight hug, "Thank you. Thank you. Thank you!" Naruto chanted into Sasuke's neck.

"Hn. Anything for you, Naruto." Sasuke assured his angel.

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><p><strong>Wow, that was a long chapter.<strong>

**My roommie asked me what I was doing as I bragged about not having much homework other than reading boring stories in _English_ when she was complaining about how she had to write an analysis about a book halfway written in Yiddish. I don't like letting people see what I write, ESPECIALLY before it's finished so I had to give a lame "it's private". She accepted it, but I kept thinking to myself that I need to think of better excuses. It's so much easier convincing my family than my roomie/friends that I am doing my homework diligently—my family thinks that I'm finally taking school seriously…which I am, but in my own ways.**

**Anyhoo, thanks for the favorites/alerts and a very, VERY special thanks for the reviews. Please leave more as I'd much rather read them than about Major and Mrs. Monarch's inability to pose for a character sketch.**


	10. A trusting bond

**Disclaimer: I don't own anyone from Naruto**

**Argh! My neck hurts! I spent the better of my "sleep" (as if an insomniac really can get sleep after 4:50) tossing and trying to find comfortable—uncommon—positions like on my tummy, against my pillow boyfriend, Steve (one of those body length ones), or the wall and none of those positions were good for my neck so I woke up and hissed "fuuuuuuuuck" and can't turn side to side because of it.**

**Onward with Chapter 10. A milemark!**

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><p>Naruto could not define what his life was now. The first word that came to mind was, dare he say, <em>happy<em>. The word felt foreign to him whenever used for himself. The last time he thought he could be happy was when First Master grew tired of him and he dared hope for freedom.

Well, that went to shit. Masters two through four were prime examples of that.

But Sasuke—no longer New Master in Naruto's mind—was truly different. He said that he was different, but Naruto didn't believe him at first, but Sasuke had gone out of his way to prove Naruto's preconceptions wrong.

He actually. . ._cared_ for Naruto. At first, Naruto couldn't make heads or tails out of this behavior because it was so alien to him. Not even the orphanage adults spent half as much effort as Sasuke did whenever Naruto's clumsiness resulted in unnecessary first aid. When Naruto accidently hit his head after challenging one of Sasuke's chairs to a spinning contest, Sasuke went ballistic in Naruto's opinion.

Naruto _said_ he was fine and it was just a bump, but Sasuke insisted that Sakura checked up on him for the next three days. And the time he scraped his arm on the side of the coffee table after successfully determining that it is in fact impossible for Naruto to flip off the couch and over said table? Naruto and Sakura tried telling him that the gash was merely long enough for Naruto's lower arm to be wrapped from the elbow to the wrist and assured him that it was not deep enough to do his arm any harm, but the stubborn Teme insisted that Naruto use a sling for the first few days.

Luckily, he was so wrapped up in bandage maintenance that he didn't remember to ask Naruto how he injured himself this time. But it wasn't only about Naruto's physical body Sasuke seemed to care about.

Some nights Naruto would get flooded by memories in his nightmares. First Master nightmares always ended up with Naruto screaming for someone to help or to just make it all _stop_ like he had prayed so many times before. The nightmares had become less ever since staying at Sasuke's; mostly because every time Naruto woke screaming, Sasuke would be there in less than a minute holding him close and whispering that everything is okay and that he is safe.

Sasuke had also always made sure that whenever he and Naruto went out together that Naruto would feel—relatively—safe. He never reprimanded Naruto whenever he clung to him or feebly attempt to hide himself against him and even held him closer and comforted him whenever Naruto got scared.

Personally, Naruto found his behavior to be rather annoying. Here he could finally—_finally_—trust someone, and he could only show it through constantly hurting himself accidentally or cowering behind Sasuke like a little girl. He is a 19 year old MAN for pete's sake yet he had to constantly rely on Sasuke.

But surprisingly enough, Sasuke wasn't annoyed with him! Well, when Naruto thought Sasuke should be at least, Sasuke did get sometimes get annoyed by Naruto's antics from time to time. But amazingly enough, sometimes Naruto's antics brought smiles to the Uchiha. Whenever Sasuke announced he was home and Naruto would trip over furniture to greet him, Sasuke would call him a dobe—and Naruto would shout "Teme!"—and Sasuke would even laugh.

Sasuke was very different from all of Naruto's other Masters. All his other Masters bought Naruto for sex, and forced Naruto to give them their money's worth frequently if not daily. They would beat him, abuse him, treat him like an animal, starve him, allow their friends to "play" with him, and rape him some more.

Sasuke, however, never even tried to kiss Naruto. He fussed over little injuries to a point where Naruto was more wary of Sasuke's reactions rather than the pain a larger injury would cause. He spoiled Naruto in many unnecessary ways like buying things Naruto asked for in excess so Naruto refrained from asking for anything but the essentials like ramen. He treated Naruto like an honored guest and a. . .friend, and that shocked Naruto to the core. Sasuke would ask Naruto what was wrong with the meal if Naruto didn't finish it and almost didn't believe that Naruto simply couldn't eat that much with the portions Sasuke served him. Sasuke was very careful to allow Naruto time to choose who and when he wanted to see people, if at all. And Sasuke never ever touched him in ways that were inappropriate.

The more Naruto thought about it, the more sure he was that he was very, very happy with his new life. The only thing that dared mar his euphoria was the fact that he is still technically property of the Uchiha.

He wasn't free like he had always wished for.

But he gladly took this alternative to freedom.

Naruto was jolted out of his thought when he heard a knock on the door.

"Come in!" Naruto called, he knew that it would be Sasuke because it was dinner time and Sasuke always dismissed his staff after he got home from work.

"It's dinner time, Naruto." Sasuke told the blonde as he poked his head into Naruto's room. Why he wouldn't immediately walk in after given permission was beyond Naruto; Naruto would often barge into Sasuke's room with or without permission. This happened so often that Sasuke started to get changed in his bathroom because Naruto would shut down, instantly plagued by past memories, whenever he saw Sasuke without his pants.

"What are we having?" Naruto asked.

Sasuke was about to open his mouth when Naruto cut in, "I hope it's ramen."

Sasuke was still for a moment and Naruto was sure that he mentally expressed himself; why Sasuke felt the need to not show emotion because he knew his last name was beyond Naruto. He assumed it was because Sasuke actually knew his family because Naruto didn't feel the need to do much based on the knowledge that his last name—he was pretty sure—was Uzumaki.

"Dobe, we are not having ramen." Sasuke said as he left the room back into the hallway.

"Awwww, why noooooooooot, Temeeeeeeeee?" Naruto whines as he scrambled to follow the older man to the dining room.

"Because I am still trying to recover from the last time you ate ramen." Was the reply from the kitchen.

"But that was so long ago! I can HEAR the ramen calling out to my stomach! 'Eat me! Eat me! You knooooow you want to!' And my stomach desperately calls back 'Baby, you know I do!' and then it starts shouting at ME because YOU are keeping the lovers apart!" Naruto replied, using high pitched tones whenever he imitated ramen and a low pitched tone whenever imitating his stomach.

Naruto saw Sasuke attempt to hide a grin as he started to serve the simple stir fry for tonight. Grinning himself, Naruto took his seat at the dining room table and started to sing under his breathe a made up tale of love between his stomach and ramen to a made up tune he was making on the fly.

"So I'm the one keeping these two lovers apart?" Sasuke asked as he placed a plate in front of Naruto.

"So you admit it!" Naruto accused, pointing his fork at Sasuke in a flamboyant gesture.

"Dobe." Sasuke replied as he placed his own plate at his usual place at the head of the table.

"Teme!" Naruto shouted after Sasuke's retreating back into the kitchen. Naruto shifted through the stir fry with his fork, poking around all the vegetables to find all the contents of his meal. Sasuke was adamant about Naruto's nutrition when he finally got Naruto to hesitantly describe his infrequent meals before Sasuke came into his life. Part of his crusade was forcing vegetables onto Naruto.

Naruto abandoned his search when Sasuke returned and began to eat instead. He always ate his vegetables slowly so he never bothered to wait for Sasuke to start eating. Naruto didn't look up because he knew Sasuke was bringing in their drinks, a wine for Sasuke with water and water with an uncaffinated soda for Naruto.

He was surprised when instead of water, Sasuke placed a bowl of instant ramen to the side of Naruto.

Naruto's eyes and entire face lit up as he looked up to Sasuke with pure awe.

"Finish more than half your vegetables and you can have another bowl." Sasuke said as he placed his drinks down near his own plate.

Naruto's chair was knocked down as he lunged at Sasuke, squeezing him as hard as he could, "I LOVE YOU, SASUKE! YOU ARE TRULY AN AMAZING PERSON!" Naruto shouted into Sasuke's neck.

Sasuke pulled away from Naruto and sat down again, but Naruto thought he saw a little hint of a blush on Sasuke's face.

But trivial things like blushes meant nothing to Naruto when ramen was around!

"This is for you, buddy." Naruto said as he pat his stomach, then inhaled the ramen in less than 10 seconds. "MMMMMMM! SO GOOOOD!" Naruto swooned as he did a mini happy dance in his chair.

Naruto swore he saw Sasuke smirk grow a little as he danced, but it was back to normal when he looked expectantly at him.

Sasuke pointed at Naruto's plate and ordered, "Eat."

Naruto grumbled a little but complied. After a third of his meal was finished, Naruto placed his fork down.

Noticing this, Sasuke placed his own fork and asked, "Is anything wrong?" with a little concern entering his voice.

Naruto shook his head as he faced his lap.

Leaning forward a little, Sasuke asked, "Naruto?" with a voice full of concern this time.

"Can I ask you something?" Naruto asked in a slightly quieter voice than his now-usual one.

"Hn." Sasuke answered with his eyes set on Naruto's hidden ones.

"C-can we go out somewhere this weekend?" Naruto asked in the same quiet voice, hunching his shoulders up a little.

There was a little pause after the question. Naruto's shoulders hunched even more. He knew it. He knew he shouldn't have asked. He was just being selfish at this point. He probably ruined the best thing in his life because he wanted to leave and go see the—

Naruto was suddenly surprised by Sasuke chuckling a little. With a confused face, Naruto turned to face Sasuke.

With a smirk that was threatening to be a grin, Sasuke asked Naruto, "Is that all?"

Facing his lap again, Naruto nodded his head yes.

"Of course we can. You shouldn't be so afraid to ask me anything."

Naruto's head shot up again. Did he hear Sasuke correctly?

"We can?" asked Naruto with a little more confidence.

"I'd never lie to you. Where do you want to go?" Sasuke asked as he returned to his dinner.

"The zoo." Naruto answered as he faced his own dinner.

"Zoo?"

"Yeppers!" Naruto was loud and cheerful once more, "I used to hear about the zoo from the older kids and I've always wanted to go! We were actually going to go the next weekend, but then I was abducted…" Naruto grew somber and quiet, like he always did when he talked about his past, "So I missed out and want to finally see the animals!" Naruto finished with a toothy grin.

Sasuke stared at Naruto, who shifted under the intense gaze. He never liked it when people stared at him. Naruto always feared what was going through people's minds when they stared at him. When it was a Master or one of Masters' friends then the stares were a signal that pain would soon follow. The stares meant the person's mind was filled with thoughts of lust, which Naruto feared. When it was a stranger who happened to see him then the stares were a signal that whispering about him would soon follow. The stares meant the people had seen his scars or how other people treated him and their minds were filled with thoughts of judgment which Naruto feared.

Sasuke must have noticed Naruto shift because he once again faced his meal before telling him, "Then the zoo it is."

"REALLY?" Naruto asked, in a clearly excited tone.

"Hn. It'll be a date." Sasuke answered with a sip of wine.

"Why is it a date?" Naruto asked, cocking his head to the side in confusion.

"Nevermind. Eat your vegetables." Sasuke replied as he continued finishing his own dinner.

"The vegetables and my stomach broke up." Naruto responded right away.

"What?" Sasuke was caught off guard with that answer.

"Yeah, my stomach caught the vegetables cheating on it so they broke up. My stomach wants to return to its true love though." Naruto elaborated as he stared wistfully at his empty ramen bowl.

Giving a little sigh, Sasuke gave in, "Next time, you are going to eat all of your vegetables."

"AW MAN, I'm like, falling in love with you, Teme!" Naruto exclaimed as he started doing a happy dance in his chair.

Naruto then dug into the instant ramen Sasuke brought him with a new gusto that still shocked the Uchiha due to excitement because he was _finally_ going to the fabled zoo.

Naruto decided that he would no longer strive for his true freedom as long as he is with Sasuke. This was without a doubt more than enough for the blonde and he was loving every day of this new life.

* * *

><p>The next day Naruto woke up extra early due to excitement. He checked the clock Sasuke had bought for his bedside table and saw that it was only 4:57 am and Sasuke said that they would not leave until at least 9:30 am.<p>

Naruto sighed and attempted to fall asleep; he rolled around the bed trying to find a comfier position, he counted sheep, he tried zen meditation, but nothing worked.

Naruto decided that he could not sleep and stopped trying to. He wasn't in the mood for early morning TV or any of the other entertainment things he stashed away in his room over the past few weeks. He knew he couldn't sleep so he might as well watch a movie.

The only little flaw in his plan was that all of the movies were in Sasuke's DVD cabinet in the entertainment room he had redecorated for Naruto's use.

Giving a little sigh, Naruto got out of bed. He didn't need to worry about covering up because ever since he's been allowed to since being bought by Sasuke, Naruto had been taking advantage of being able to sleep with real clothes on and much of the wardrobe Sasuke insisted on buying was dedicated to pajamas of all sorts. Tonight it was sweatpants and a large T-Shirt.

Naruto opened the door and tiptoed into the hallway.

He got a little nervous after closing the door and running his hand across the wall when he remembered that the hallway did not have a light switch.

'_It's okay, it's just a regular SAFE hallway in SASUKE'S apartment. Nothing is going to happen.'_ Naruto told himself as he tried to regulate his heavy breathing as he felt the familiar fear of his nightmares creep up on him.

'_I am just going to walk down the SAFE hallway like a MAN and turn on the lights when I reach the end._' Naruto coached himself as he forced his feet to take a few hesitant steps.

Naruto took another few steps when he froze. '_WHAT WAS THAT?_' Naruto thought frantically as he uselessly looked around in the darkness. He thought he heard something move.

Naruto jumped again because he could swear that he heard something again. Oh, god, was that clanking? Was someone going to sneak up on him again to chain him to another wall? Was that a chuckle he heard?

Oh god No! No He can't be back in that place! Oh no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no!

Naruto shrieked when he heard footsteps!

Lights were turning on so Naruto threw himself onto the floor and pulled his legs in front of his chest and protected his face with his hands. He didn't want to go back to that building again! He wouldn't be taken away from Sasuke.

'_SASUKE HELP_!' Naruto screamed in his head as tears fell into his hands.

He didn't want to be taken away! He wanted to stay with _Sasuke!_ He didn't want to leave! No, he knew that if they took him away they would beat him again! They would starve him even more because he finally got a healthy look on him. They were going to rape him again.

Arms wrapped around Naruto. They were trying to take him away!

"NO! NO! SASUKE! SASUKE, HELP ME! DON'T LET THEM GET ME!" Naruto shouted as he tried to escape the hands holding him.

"Shhhhh, Naruto, shhhhhh." A soothing voice whispered in his ear. Maybe it was supposed to relax the blonde, but Naruto has had too much experience with people forcibly holding him and whispering in his ear to be quiet before they drag him away to be tortured some more.

Naruto renewed his struggling. He needed to get to Sasuke! Sasuke would save him! "NO! YOU CAN'T MAKE ME GO WITH YOU! LET ME GO! LET ME GO! I WANT SASUKE! SASUKE, HELP!"

The hands on Naruto pulled the struggling blonde into a sitting position and embraced him, pulling Naruto closer to his abductor. Naruto tried to struggle even harder but his face and subsequently arms were pressed against the other's chest.

"Shhhhh, It's me, Naruto," the voice whispered again but this time above him. One of the hands on his back started to move up and down in a slow pace meant to calm the still struggling blonde.

"It's Sasuke."

Naruto immediately stopped struggling, but was still tense. What if they were tricking him?

"S-Sasuke?" Naruto asked as he opened his eyes. All he could see was a naked chest and he froze once more.

"Yes, Naruto. It's Sasuke." The voice assured him as the hand still rubbed his back.

It _felt_ like Sasuke…Sasuke would always let Naruto hide against his chest and rub his back to calm him down…maybe it was Sasuke…

Naruto forced himself to look up at the man holding him.

"SASUKE!" Naruto shouted as he wriggled a little out of Sasuke's lessened grip so he could wrap his own arms around Sasuke's torso. Sobs of relief could be heard and felt from the blonde as he cried into Sasuke's protective hold.

"Shhhh, Naruto. It's okay now. Shhhhh, shhhhhhh." Sasuke whispered as he gently rocked Naruto in a calming rhythm that matched how he was rubbing Naruto's back. "It's okay now, I'm here. I won't let anything hurt you."

Naruto buried his face into Sasuke's chest as his sobs lessened now that he was calming down a little.

'_Sasuke's here. Sasuke's here. Sasuke won't let them take me._' Naruto chanted in his head as he tried to take calming breaths, breathing in Sasuke's scent. It relaxed him somehow.

"Naruto," Sasuke whispered into Naruto's blonde hair, "I'm going to pick you up and take you back to your room, okay?"

Naruto weakly nodded his head against Sasuke's chest, not trusting himself to not fall into hysterics if he tried to talk.

Sasuke rearranged his arms rather awkwardly as Naruto refused to let go of him. After a little while and a lot of restrained effort, Sasuke managed to pick Naruto up bridal style. He had finally succeeded in prying Naruto's arms off his torso only to have Naruto desperately wrap his arms around Sasuke's neck and buried his head there, too.

Naruto was carried the few feet to his bedroom—was it really that close?—and taken to the bed.

Sasuke tried to gently lay Naruto down on the bed and would have succeeded, except Naruto was still clinging to Sasuke's neck.

"Naruto, you can let go of my neck now." Sasuke whispered patiently as he covered Naruto's legs with the comfy sheets.

"Can you stay?" Naruto whispered very softly. He didn't want Sasuke to leave! What if they try to get Naruto again? Sasuke would make the bad guys stay away so he needed to stay by Naruto's side!

Sasuke gave a sigh and whispered "Of course, but you need to let go of my neck soon when I tell you."

Naruto nodded his understanding, grateful beyond words that Sasuke agreed.

Sasuke slowly—Naruto was still clinging—moved Naruto closer to the middle of the bed and placed his own legs underneath the covers as well.

Sasuke and Naruto were both sitting in the middle of the bed when Sasuke gently lifted Naruto's arms off his neck after whispering "now.".

Naruto trembled when his arms were removed, but Sasuke guided Naruto so he was laying down as he laid down next to him before covering the both of them with the comfy covers.

He let go of Naruto's arms and immediately Naruto wrapped them around Sasuke's torso once more and again buried his head against Sasuke's chest.

Naruto felt Sasuke's arms wrap around him and was grateful for Sasuke's protective warmth. He felt safer knowing Sasuke wouldn't let anyone take him away. Sasuke would protect him while they slept. Sasuke would stay with him.

After Sasuke wrapped his arms around Naruto, Naruto stopped trembling. The effect was almost instantaneous.

"Good night, Naruto." Sasuke said quietly above Naruto.

"Night." Naruto whispered in reply against Sasuke's chest.

Naruto was silent afterwards, allowing Sasuke's scent to envelope him and his warmth comfort him as Naruto fell into one of the most relaxed state he's been in his memory.

* * *

><p>The next day started off to a later start than anticipated, but Sasuke was not complaining.<p>

He awoke as he had planned around 8:00 am, well closer to 8:30 but still in his self-given time frame for waking up.

He awoke with a slight smile on his face. His angel was lying on top of him, gently breathing with one of the most peaceful looks on his face Sasuke has ever seen on him. His arms were still attached to Sasuke, though no longer desperately clinging but comfortably resting on top of Sasuke.

Sasuke was not complaining. He rather enjoyed waking up this way. He liked feeling the other's warmth on top of him. His angel was by no means heavy. Sasuke enjoyed feeling his angel's even breathe slightly tickling—if Uchihas were ticklish—on his chest. He loved what he saw even more.

On his chest, Sasuke saw Naruto as the angel he knew he was. The morning light illuminated Naruto's blonde hair so it lit up like a beautiful halo. His white T-Shirt hung loosely on him and was bunched up around his own chest like wings. His bronze skin had a significant lesser number of scars so the majority was smooth and soft.

But his angel's face was truly beautiful. Naruto's expression was the most peaceful Sasuke had ever seen. When Naruto was on a drug-induced sleep, his face was calm but that could not be compared to his expression now. Before his face was void of emotion, but there was a slight smile on his face now.

Sasuke tried to rearrange his arms so he could hold his angel once more, but Naruto made a little whimper and unconsciously pressed his own hands harder on Sasuke's shoulders. As a compromise, Sasuke only moved his left forearm to rest on Naruto's back. After the rustling was done and Sasuke's arm in place, Naruto stopped whimpering and his face fell into a larger smile.

Sasuke smiled at the sight. While he hated the fact that Naruto's memories tormented him to the point where he could not even spend more than two minutes in the dark without breaking down, he loved how Naruto had trusted him enough to shout out for him in his supposed time of need. He loved how Naruto now knew that Sasuke would do anything for him.

"_I WANT SASUKE_!" The words made Sasuke smile. At the time, he was entirely focused on saving Naruto from his mental torment, but afterwards it made Sasuke happy that Naruto was calling for him.

Naruto started to shift slightly on top of him. Sasuke turned his head to see that the clock read 9:26 am.

"Mnnnn." Naruto mumbled as he started to wake up. Blue eyes blinked blurrily, unseeing anything around Naruto in his sleepy haze.

"Morning, Naruto." Sasuke greeted, removing his arm from Naruto's back preparing himself for Naruto to react in fear from his memories.

As expected, Naruto's eyes flew open; dilated in fear. Naruto roughly shoved himself off of Sasuke—who grunted a little in pain—into a sitting position, wildly looking around to assess where he was.

Sasuke waited patiently until Naruto realized where he was and that he was safe.

Finally, Naruto's blue eyes focused on Sasuke and relaxed.

"Sasuke." Naruto breathed in relief.

"Dobe." Sasuke replied as he sat up and began to get off the bed.

"TEME!" Naruto shouted as a response as his eyes followed Sasuke. Sasuke saw Naruto discreetly check to see that he was fully clothed when he thought Sasuke was not looking.

"Hn. Get ready to go." Sasuke said as he started to leave Naruto's room to his own so he could get changed.

"Go?" Naruto asked, clearly confused.

Sasuke turned around at the doorway and smirked, "We're going to be late for the zoo, dobe."

At those words, Naruto quickly checked the clock and made a sound of shock. He then jumped out of bed towards his closet.

"LET'S GO, TEME! WHAT ARE WE WAITING FOR?" Naruto shouted as he practically tore off his shirt.

Chuckling a little, Sasuke went to his own room to quickly get dressed and take Naruto to the zoo.

* * *

><p>The two had a blast at the zoo together. Naruto kept running from exhibit to exhibit, shouting that Sasuke had to see whatever animal he was pointing at.<p>

While Sasuke did not particularly enjoy the running around part, he loved seeing Naruto so excited.

Naruto dragged Sasuke through the zoo and insisted on seeing every animal and would not leave am exhibit until he was sure that he's seen every animal in it.

He insisted that Sasuke see every animal too, but Sasuke was watching Naruto the whole time so he had to lie once or twice about seeing animals.

Finally they were at their last exhibit for the day. Well, they were re-visiting, actually. Earlier in the day, Naruto had felt mildly torn between his desire to see all the animals in the zoo or to stay with his favorite animal.

So Sasuke offered the solution to his angel. So the pair went to see the rest of the animals with the promise of returning to see the fox den.

Sasuke was smirking, today was a great day. No fangirls were bothering him today since they had chosen times when mostly families visited. And best of all, Naruto was truly happy.

"Sasuke, look! There's the baby fox!" Naruto grabbed Sasuke's arm excitedly as he jumped up and down as he pointed at the kit, looking between the kit and Sasuke to make sure he was looking.

"Hn." Sasuke answered as he looked at the kit for Naruto.

Sasuke then checked his watch and saw that the zoo was going to close in half an hour and they were about 20 minutes away from the exit.

"Let's go, Naruto." Sasuke said as he turned to leave.

"Go?" Naruto asked in confusion as he tore his away from the kit he was looking at.

"Hn. The zoo will close soon and I don't want to be caught in traffic." Sasuke explained as he grabbed Naruto's hand and led him towards the exit.

"Alright." Naruto agreed as he walked with Sasuke.

Sasuke grinned a little as he rearranged his fingers so they intertwined with Naruto's.

The two left the zoo and were walking towards Sasuke's car that he decided to drive himself today, giving his driver the day off. Sasuke had parked close to the city streets because Naruto had seen a Starbucks and demanded for a cookie while Sasuke had bought himself a coffee. Naruto then wanted walk to the zoo from there and Sasuke couldn't say no.

"You know," Sasuke said suddenly, "I've never been close to anybody before."

Naruto looked up to face Sasuke, then looked forward as he kept walking and said, "Yeah, I can tell."

"You can?" Sasuke asked.

"Mhmm, your eyes are lonely." Naruto answered as easily as if he was asked day of the week it was.

"Lonely?" Sasuke asked.

"Yeah, lonely. Like you've been alone for a long time and don't let others in." Naruto stated.

"But I don't want to be." Sasuke said with an urgency that surprised himself.

"What?" Naruto asked, facing him once more.

"I don't want to be lonely anymore. I want you." Sasuke said as he turned to Naruto.

"Me?" Naruto asked, bewildered and scared at the same time.

"Not for sex," Sasuke cut in quickly, understanding where Naruto's fears came from, "but for a relationship."

"A what?" Naruto asked, really confused.

Sasuke stopped walking and pulled the confused blonde into a hug.

"When I saw you at that auction, I knew that I wanted you. I am ashamed to say that at first I wanted you for your body." Sasuke started stroking Naruto's back when Naruto tensed at the words.

"But I saw others who wanted you for the same reason and I got irrationally jealous so I had to buy you and keep you away from them. Then when I held you, I knew that I wanted more than sleep with you. I want to protect you. I want to be the reason you feel safe. I want to make sure you can smile. And I want to love you." Sasuke finished with a little kiss on top of Naruto's head.

". . .Why?" Naruto asked, a voice filled with confusion and self-doubt.

"Because you are my angel." Sasuke replied quickly and simply. "But I won't force you into anything. All that I ask is that you stay with me and allow me to protect you."

Naruto stood still for a while. Sasuke still held him and sent the occasional Uchiha Glare at anyone who looked at them strangely.

Then Naruto spoke up, "I'm really glad I met you."

"Naruto?" Sasuke asked.

"You are the nicest person I have ever met. I've never met anyone who cares as much as you or who fusses over little things like you do. And sometimes it's a little annoying, but you are the best thing that has ever happened to me. And I don't want to leave you." Naruto mumbled into Sasuke's chest.

"Really?" Sasuke asked, his heart soaring because of what his angel was telling him.

"Yeah, but I don't know about that relationship stuff." Naruto quickly told Sasuke.

"That's alright. I wouldn't expect a dobe like you to." Sasuke teased as he let go of Naruto and led him to the car about a block away.

"TEME!" Naruto shouted as he followed Sasuke.

Sasuke chuckled and inwardly smiled. He was definitely happy.

He was in such a personal euphoria that he did not notice that a man with gray hair and large circular glasses stop and openly stare at Naruto. Then he took out a camera and took a picture of the two as Sasuke opened the door for the blonde.

* * *

><p><strong>And that was the chapter.<strong>

**Gah I'm kinda pissed! Not only does my neck still hurt but one of my newer friends is a total attention/drama-whore. She's the type who posts pictures of herself and post things like "I'm so ugly." She is a total creeper when it comes to guys who she "falls in love" with after meeting them the day before, going as far as to essentially stalk them and attempt to flirt. She even went to one guy's dorm room and wrote on his dry erase board "I might be in the library…but I might not be…come find me."**

**She declared her life to be officially over because this new guy she's been stalking (even showing up in his room when he's not there and essentially moving into his dorm with another friend) told her that he is not interested in her because she is creepy. It was getting ridiculous so I asked her to lunch which she blew off because she was skipping class which she totally can't afford to do. We got into a fight because I said I have a problem with her constantly blowing off those of us who actually care and are tired of her antics and she refuses to take responsibility.**

**She's been totally high school about it. She is trying to turn mutual friends against me. It won't work well because basically every one of our mutual friends is sick and tired of her. But I hate people being mad at me so while I am actually quite glad that I will forever be freed from her drama and her whining that no one will ever love her, it bothers me that she won't even admit that anything could be her fault and is still being so juvenile about everything.**

**But enough about that. I just needed to vent.**

**Anyhoo, thanks so much for the support, favorites and alerts. And a super special awesome thanks to those who review! You guys are my favorite and I continue updating at a reasonable time for YOU! The rest are freeloaders so join the others and review!**


	11. Peaceful

**Disclaimer: I don't own anyone in the Naruto world.**

**So I'm watching The Lady and the Tramp, and despite it not being The Lion King, I am really enjoying the nostalgia haha! Kinda like how I was watching Napoleon Dynamite yesterday and kept laughing at all of the '90s nostalgia like the fashions and the old, chunky computer. Oh how the good ol' days make me laugh and giggle.**

**Onward with the chapter!**

* * *

><p>Naruto looked expectantly at Sasuke, focusing on Sasuke's lips. Sasuke's moist lips kept moving ever so slightly, hiding a piece of Naruto's curiosity. Naruto could see how Sasuke's jaw and lips moved as his tongue swirled around behind them.<p>

The tip of Sasuke's tongue slipped out, surprising Naruto due to the intense focus he was giving Sasuke's lips.

In his surprise, Naruto looked up to see Sasuke's whole expression. He was smirking!

Sasuke was teasing Naruto!

Naruto huffed his cheek with anger and impatience. Naruto didn't like being teased.

He leaned in close to Sasuke and grabbed his tie as a little payback for making Naruto wait for so long and pulled Sasuke close to him. Naruto was done waiting for what he wanted.

"Well?" Naruto asked impatiently as he stared into Sasuke's eyes.

Sasuke's smirk grew as he licked his lips as a response.

Naruto pouted a little before his eyes glowed with a new determination. He pulled on Sasuke's tie a little more so their foreheads were practically touching.

"That's not an answer." Naruto said with a small frown on his face.

Sasuke playfully rolled his eyes before he too leaned forward so his forehead really was touching Naruto's.

"Hn. It's delicious." He told Naruto.

"YES!" Naruto shouted in his excitement and celebration.

He had asked Choji to teach him how to cook a meal and today was the first time he had tried cooking for Sasuke. He had finally learned how to make Spaghetti and meatballs so he wanted to surprise Sasuke when he came home with his very first meal cooked all by himself.

Choji had said that his spaghetti was near perfect the last time the two had cooked together a couple days ago at lunch; and Sakura, Hinata and Kiba had also agreed that it was truly delectable. But it was Sasuke's opinion Naruto really cared about.

Now that his food had gotten Sasuke's approval, Naruto sat down from his impromptu happy dance to eat it himself.

As he ate, Naruto was practically glowing with happiness, but that was nothing new these days. He had been improving on his self-confidence a lot lately with the help of his new friends—especially Sasuke—and he's been pretty proud of himself.

When Sakura brought over her friend Ino to lunch one day, Naruto had worked up the courage to introduce himself right away without cowering or showing any hesitation despite how nervous he felt. Even though he had been quieter that day, he forced himself at the beginning to make conversation with her and by the end he acted just as naturally with her as if she had been joining the mini group for lunch daily.

But his real accomplishment was when he visited Sasuke at work with Hinata. Near the beginning he had to literally hold onto Sasuke in order to keep himself from panicking because of all the stares aimed at him, but gradually he—with Sasuke's help—had been forcing himself to break out of his paranoid protective shell. Now Naruto had been able to walk all the way to the break room to get himself something from the vending machine—when there aren't many people around—and back without breaking into a panic attack.

Naruto knew that Sasuke would always be there when he needed him so Naruto knew that he could make these personal leaps with confidence.

Naruto had also been expanding on his hobbies. He's been turning to his new friends and their interests to learn more about what he himself was interested in. He learned from Sakura that he in fact did not enjoy anything medical, but she had been showing him ways to build some muscle and he's been surprised more than once at the insane strength the girl had. Ino had shown him the joys of keeping plants and he had been doing so enthusiastically, creating a personal garden on one of the balconies of the penthouse. Choji had been teaching him to cook, even though Naruto was horrible at it in his opinion. Hinata had been teaching him origami and other little crafts like making bento boxes and he wanted to make one for Sasuke soon. But Naruto had been having the most fun discovering new games with Kiba.

But no matter how much fun he's been having, time with Sasuke was always special. He always felt safe and secure with Sasuke around. Like he could be himself without fearing being judged. And especially because Sasuke makes Naruto feel like he is wanted and even loved; something the blonde has craved ever since he could remember.

It wasn't long before dinner time became Naruto's favorite time of the day and began to glow during these times.

"Anything particular on your mind, dobe?" Sasuke's voice broke through Naruto's thoughts.

"Huh? What?" Naruto asked, shaking his head as he cleared his thoughts.

Sasuke simply smirked at Naruto because of his little antics.

"Wait—TEME! Stop calling me a dobe!" Naruto shouted.

"How can I help it when you make such idiotic expressions even though someone is asking you a question." Sasuke replied as he took another bite of his meal.

"Question?" Naruto asked, cocking his head to the side as his blue eyes bore into the obsidian ones of his opposite.

Sasuke sighed before asking Naruto once more, "I asked if there's anything in particular on your mind."

Naruto was surprised at the question. He _did_ want to ask Sasuke something, but it wasn't very important so he assumed that he'd wait for another time. But how did Sasuke know?

"You're pretty easy to read." Sasuke said all of a sudden.

"EH?" Naruto asked as he grasped his head. Could Sasuke read minds?

Sasuke smirked as a reply.

"Well? What is it?" Sasuke asked as Naruto suspiciously glared at him.

'_Why don't you just read my mind, you Teme?'_ Naruto thought as he stuck his tongue out at Sasuke. When he received a small chuckle from the other, Naruto decided that he might as well ask.

"Can we go out again soon?" Naruto asked as he ate the last meatball on his plate. He knew that Sasuke would agree so he was not worried about the answer, he just wanted to ask later because he knew that Sasuke has a lot of work now. Something to do with some court case that Sasuke took interest in. It sounded boring and Sasuke told him that he wouldn't want to know the details so Naruto trusted him and didn't ask aside from the occasional status update because Sasuke clearly took a special interest in it.

"Of course." Sasuke answers immediately, like he always does, "Do you have anywhere in particular you want to go?"

The two had frequently gone to places that Naruto wanted to go to. Simple places he had dreamed of going to as a child like the aquarium, go carts, and amusement parks. Last time the two went out, Naruto had asked to go to the park and the two spent over two hours playing, or Naruto played while Sasuke acted as the dutiful observer as Naruto showed off his impressive monkey bar skills and such.

Naruto always asked Sasuke if there were places _he_ wanted to go, but the Uchiha would always shake his head and say that he wanted to go wherever Naruto wanted to go and wouldn't let the blonde coax any other answer out of him. Eventually, Naruto stopped asking even though he secretly loved it when Sasuke answered him like that. It made him feel important and cared for.

"Yea! Choji actually told me about this one place he used to work at called Ichiraku Ramen! He said that they made the BEST ramen in the world and said that I couldn't truly love ramen until I've tasted their heavenly food! So can we please go? Pleeeeease?" Naruto asked as he folded his hands together to physically show how much he wanted to go.

"Well—" Sasuke started as Naruto cut him off.

"What if I replace the 'L' in 'Please' with a 'w' to make it sound cuter?" Naruto asked, quoting Sakura when she had asked Kiba to drive her and Ino to class one day because the two had spent a little too much time watching what Kiba had dubbed a "chick flick" with Naruto and Hinata.

"I—" Sasuke started again before Naruto cut him off again.

"Pweeeeeaaaaaase?" Naruto asked as he squinted his eyes and leaned closer to Sasuke with his prayer hands almost reaching his cup of wine. Sasuke had frequently told Naruto that he couldn't look at a ramen bowl the same way because of him. Naruto has yet to find out whether or not Sasuke was teasing him or not.

"Dobe." Sasuke said, cutting _him_ off, "I was _going_ to say yes the first time."

"Eh?" Naruto opened one eye to see if Sasuke was joking.

Sasuke placed a hand on Naruto's folded ones and gently pushed them on the table a good couple of inches further away from his wine and looked into Naruto's exposed eye.

"We can go out on Friday after work, I'll ask my assistant to reschedule any meetings so I can get out early. Does that sound acceptable?" Sasuke asked in a light tone.

Naruto opened both eyes and blinked before his expression widened into a large smile. He knew that Sasuke would eventually agree but he did not expect to be going to the restaurant so soon! He was expecting next week at the earliest.

Sasuke ate the last of his meal and gave the blonde a small grin, "That was one of the most delicious meals I've ever had."

Naruto's previous smile was a forced grin compared to the one across his face after the praise. He had never been given many compliments—besides ones by his previous Masters that he tried to block out—and he knew that Sasuke rarely gave them so praise by Sasuke for something that he did on his own was the best in the world.

After their meal the two cleared their places and quickly did the dishes. They had long since established a little routine where Sasuke would wash and Naruto would dry. They would then place the dried dishes on a rack to dry and leave them so that Sakura could put them away the next day.

Since Naruto had prepared the meal a little earlier than their usual dinner time, Sasuke suggested that they watch a movie before desert.

Naruto practically skipped his way towards the DVD cabinet and chose one of the movies Sasuke had recently bought for Naruto's cinema desires.

Whenever Naruto watched movies, the one he chose depended on who he was watching with. Whenever Ino came over with Sakura and the penthouse was dominated by women, the movie choice was usually a "chick flick" that Naruto had no problem watching. He was man enough to admit that he liked watching the couple overcome obstacles with their love and wished for the same type of love even though he understood that those kinds of things only happened in the movies. Whenever Choji visited and the penthouse was overcome with men, they watched action movies with Superheroes. Naruto loved those movies the most and secretly wished that he had super powers and wondered if that would have changed anything in his previously nightmarish life.

Kiba had tried to convince Naruto to watch a horror movie, but Naruto never wavered from his decision. He had lived through enough horror in his life to ever wish to see some actors portray things he could only hope would happen when he was owned by his Masters.

When it was only him, Hinata, Sakura and Kiba, though, the group usually watched some comedy or another.

But whenever Naruto watched movies with Sasuke, he chose ones he had treasured and wanted to see in his childhood. He didn't completely feel secure in telling his new friends which movies he really preferred, wanting to appear more grown up and his age. Besides, it wasn't as if he did not enjoy the movies the others picked out.

It was just that watching the movies from his past, the ones he loved or couldn't watch before, with Sasuke was special to Naruto. Sasuke understood what these movies meant to Naruto and told him that he enjoyed looking back on simpler times with the blonde.

Naruto ran back to the couch, handing Sasuke the movie he had chosen. Sasuke smirked a little when he saw Naruto's choice before walking over to the large flat screen to insert the DVD inside the player.

When Sasuke returned, Naruto had already surrounded his left side with many pillows and had a blanket draped over himself as well as holding onto a stuffed fox Sasuke had bought for him after their trip to the zoo.

Sasuke smirked at the sight and Naruto wondered if that was the Uchiha's favorite expression or something because of the amount of times he's smirked.

Giving a little sigh because he knew that smirking was the Uchiha form of smiling and that he couldn't change anything about it. Then he gave Sasuke the end of the blanket draped over his legs so they could share; another little routine the two had worked out.

"You really are obsessed with this movie." Sasuke observed as he skipped past the previews.

Naruto shrugged and answered, "This was my favorite as a kid. It was the only movie I owned because the orphanage ladies gave it to me after the other kids beat me when I tried to watch it with them. It was what I watched when I was sick or needed to feel better. Besides, I personally think it's a true work of art."

"Alright then." Sasuke conceded as he pressed PLAY and shifted slightly so to offer his ears the slightest bit of protection before Naruto started to shout/sing.

"NAAAANTS INGONYAMA BAGITHI BABA!"

* * *

><p>Naruto had fallen asleep during the movie, and even though he would hear a little bit of self-berating whining and demands to know why he didn't wake him up so he could experience the best movie known to man, Sasuke did not care.<p>

His angel started out by simply resting his head on Sasuke's shoulder, but halfway fell halfway slid onto Sasuke's lap. Sasuke smiled down on his angel as he saw Naruto curl up in a little ball, hugging the toy fox Naruto had named Kyuubi.

Sasuke ran one hand though Naruto's soft, golden hair while the other had been—willingly—captured by his angel in his sleep.

Sasuke's hand traced from his hairline to his cheeks before running his fingers softly over the scars left on him. He hated how both physically and mentally scarred those damned "Masters" had left his angel. He swore that he would use every resource at his disposal so he could hunt down every bastard who ever lay a hand on Naruto.

Sasuke's smile threatened to grow as he thought about how much Naruto has accomplished in the last month. He had been working really hard on his confidence and Sasuke was proud.

He had been stroking Naruto's cheeks when Naruto started to react to his dreams. Sasuke gave a little sigh. He was hoping that he could have a little more time with a peaceful sleeping angel because Naruto really did look simply adorable when he slept.

But with Naruto's new confidence came active dreams. Sasuke was not entirely sure of what his blonde dreamt of—Naruto could never tell him as he rarely remembered, and when he did they made little to no coherent sense—but he was sure that they were not the nightmare Naruto would sometimes be plagued with.

Naruto would move around a lot when he had these active dreams. Sasuke was unfortunate enough to be hovering around him during one when he was unsure of whether or not they were nightmares and had gotten kicked in the chest.

Sasuke picked up his angel bridal style and carried him to his room.

The hallway was no longer as dark before because Sasuke had installed a small nightlight. Not enough to be a bright bother, but enough to allow the eye to adjust and see enough to reach a light switch if needed.

He lay Naruto down on the bed and retreated to the wall. Just in time it seemed because a couple of seconds after being paid down Naruto had punched the air above him mumbling something about hating someone called "Bowser".

Chuckling a little, Sasuke risked personal injury and leaned down to give his angel a light kiss on the forehead before leaving for his own room.

Naruto had not shown any direct romantic interest in Sasuke, but the Uchiha was happy with what he was given. Naruto still trusted him more than anyone else, Sasuke was the only one Naruto would show physical affection towards like hugging, and Naruto himself admitted that time spent with the Uchiha was special to him.

Sasuke smiled as he started to settle in for a restful night. Naruto may not love him yet, but Naruto did care about him and that was a start.

* * *

><p><strong>And that was the chapter.<strong>

**It's a little short compared to the last one, but I'm a little tired and the next one is going to be a good long one. This one is a more in-between the two because I felt that it was important to show how much Naruto is progressing. I wanted to show that he is definitely interacting with those who join him for lunch and such before going for the really important stuff.**

**The movie was originally going to be a ninja movie and it was going to be a whole "Ohhhhhh because Naruto is a show about ninja and he is watching a ninja movie oh lololol" thing, but Lion King called to me in the end. I just love that movie so much! So much that for my Animations in American Culture class I wrote a 7-page paper about Simba and got an A on it ~is proud~.**

**Thanks to all those who favorite/alert and a special thanks to those who review! You guys make me smile a lot and keep me on a somewhat normal schedule. The rest are freeloaders who should take the reviewers' examples.**


	12. Leaving for Ramen

**Disclaimer: I own no one in the Naruto Universe.**

**I just finished my first day of Spring Semester. I actually woke up around 8 (stayed in bed till 8:30) so I could get to my 9:10 class early to assess how long it would take to get to the building and to find the correct room because last semester I went to the wrong room . .**

**But while I was "waking up", all I could think was "I can't believe I used to be up this early every DAY last year!" and inwardly giggled at my past self for Pssht-ing a pompous teacher when they said that 8am classes would be the bane of my college existence because the class foolishly believed that we could handle it since we woke up before 6:00 every day back then. Haha past self. Haha.**

**Onward with the Chapter!**

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><p>"SASUKE!" Naruto called from the elevator as soon as it opened to the top floor.<p>

A couple of workers stopped to stare at the blonde who was shouting for their boss. Some stared with startled expressions; they had always assumed that anyone who shouted out for the stoic Uchiha would leave in a stretcher if they survived. Some stared with expectant expressions; only the loud Suigetsu would shout in the office and their boss never failed to make the loudmouth regret it for the time being so they were expecting a show. Some stared with amused expressions; they had witnessed the blonde and boss interact and knew the boy was adorably childlike. Some, mostly women, stared with menacing expressions; _they_ wanted to be the only ones who could call out to their Greek god of a boss, not some idiotic blonde boy.

Naruto shrank a little from the stares he was receiving. Although he had thought he had gotten used to the office, he had never liked people staring at him; even before he was abducted. Stares made him feel like he was put on display for people to judge him. Stares would immediately make him wonder what they could be judging about him and unconsciously start listing his insecurities.

Naruto unconsciously started to back into the elevator to avoid the stares, but was stopped by Hinata who grabbed his hand.

He looked to his side and saw Hinata give him a smile.

He weakly returned it with a small nod and allowed her to lead him to Sasuke's office. He didn't cower behind her nor did he cling to her like he used to when visiting the office. He still needed Hinata to offer him support, but only at times when he was feeling insecure. Like now.

Naruto breathed a sigh of relief when he caught sight of Sasuke's office.

Soon he'd be with Sasuke soon. They would leave and go to the legendary Ichiraku Ramen and enjoy the most heavenly food in the world. Sasuke would make sure the people would stop staring at him. He didn't have to worry about anything with Sasuke around.

Naruto saw that Sasuke's office door had been closed. He gave Hinata an inquiring look who returned it, but in a more polite manor.

Sasuke never had his door closed when he knew that Naruto was coming. He was rarely inside his office when he knew Naruto was coming! He would usually wait near the elevator for Naruto to shout out for him and the two would go to Sasuke's office, which was always open.

Upon closer inspection, now that the Naruto and Hinata had reached Hinata's desk, they could see that Sasuke's door was open a sliver so that while the majority was closed, all it would take was a gentle push or pull to let it swing open.

Naruto and Hinata whispered to each other, deciding that Sasuke was probably working so Naruto should not barge in. Instead, the pair decided that Hinata should call Sasuke's office and peacefully distract him rather than flamboyantly disrupt him.

Hinata sat down behind her desk while Naruto sat across from her, grabbing an extra chair from the row of chairs designated for people awaiting to meet with the owner and CEO of Uchiha Corp.

Hinata picked up her phone and turned the phone around and told which numbers for Naruto to happily press. He loved that every time he pressed a number a light on top of the phone lit up, one time he called home just so he could see the phone light up.

The light on top of the phone lit up as he heard from the receiver the boring ringing signaling that Sasuke had yet to pick up.

He heard a click and from the open door and on the phone a "Yes?" from Sasuke. The voice in the phone spoke a little after the voice from the office creating an echo-y effect. Naruto giggled at the echo.

"M-Mr. Uchiha, sir. N-Naruto is h-here." Hinata reported. Naruto sent her a glowing smile. When the two first met Naruto was a nervous wreck who couldn't articulate a word without flinching and Hinata was forever speaking with a stammer and referring to everyone as "Ms." or "Mr." The two decided that they would help each other by offering each other support. Slowly, the two started to develop more confidence and would reward each other with a smile for the other's achievements.

But Hinata had called Naruto just by his name, so she deserved an extra big smile!

The two heard a "Hn" before the light on top of the phone turned off and the dial tone could be heard, signaling that Sasuke had hung up.

Before Hinata and Naruto could share a confused look with each other, the door opened revealing Sasuke.

Sasuke walked over to where Naruto sat and placed a hand on his shoulder, pulling the blonde close to him in a half-hug.

"I apologize." Sasuke apologized, looking into Naruto's eyes, pulling him into the endless dark pools.

"Eh?" Naruto exclaimed, his own eyes widening. What would Sasuke have to apologize for? Sasuke did nothing wrong.

Sasuke offered Naruto's antics a little smirk.

"For what?" Naruto asked, checking Sasuke up and down for any injuries. Nowadays that had become Naruto's code for Sasuke saying that he injured himself once again. Maybe Sasuke decided to use the same code?

"I should have called while you were eating lunch. I can't get out of work as early as I had hoped." Sasuke replied as he used his other hand to grab Naruto's to stop him from peering under his jacket for nonexistent injuries.

"Is that it?" Naruto asked.

"Hn." Sasuke replied as he raised an eyebrow. It was as if he was expecting a different reaction. Naruto smiled a mischievous grin. If Sasuke was expecting a different reaction then he would get one.

"How could you?" Naruto said loudly as he pushed Sasuke away.

Sasuke gave him a surprised look, but it vanished as Naruto gave him the same grin as before.

"I cannot BELIEVE you didn't call me first!" Naruto made a show of pretending to cry into his hands.

"Dobe. Unlike you, I have a job." Sasuke replied as he crossed his arms.

"But that never stopped you before!" Naruto cried into his hands.

"There was more work than I expected. I got caught up." Sasuke defended.

"Bullshit! I know what's REALLY going on!" Naruto declared as he stood up on top of his chair, pointing an accusing finger at Sasuke.

"Oh?" Sasuke asked, raising his eyebrows.

"YOU'RE CHEATING ON ME AREN'T YOU?" Naruto shouted.

Hinata blushed at the attention they were attracting, but Sasuke gave the little crowd a small glare and most ran away, apart from the women who glared at Naruto earlier.

Returning his attention on Naruto, Sasuke offered a smirk as he demanded, "How did you find out?"

With Sasuke playing along, Naruto had all the confidence he needed to shout his reply once more.

"THEY TOLD ME!" Naruto gestured wildly behind him and heard the satisfying sound of frightened squeaking from those girls as they ran away with more speed than the rest earlier, "HOW COULD YOU? SASUKE, WHAT ABOUT THE CHILDREN?"

Sasuke smirked and said, "Too far, dobe."

"What if I told you that Hinata is our child and I'm suing your bastard ass for custody?" Naruto asked with a large smile on his face.

At the mention of her name, Hinata jumped a little and—if possible—blushed even more.

"Then I'd win." Sasuke said simply.

"Teme. She's MY child." Naruto growled.

"Are you suggesting that we got married and that you are my wife?" Sasuke asked, bemused as he lifted an eyebrow to accompany his smirk.

In an instant, Naruto was almost as red as Hinata, and sounding like her, "N-No. T-Teme." He started to wobble atop the chair he was standing on.

Sasuke's smirk grew into an actual grin. He strode over to Naruto and curled his arm under Naruto's legs and pulled Naruto so he fell into Sasuke's arm to be carried bridal style.

"Eh? Teme, PUT ME DOWN!" Naruto shouted as he began to squirm, trying to free himself.

"I'll be done with work soon, usuratonkachi. Just have to get rid of some paperwork. In the meantime, Ms. Hyuuga, care to give the dobe here a little tour?" Sasuke said as he blatantly ignored Naruto's request.

"TEME, STOP CALLING ME THAT!" Naruto shouted as he began to thrash around more violently, but that only caused Sasuke to grip him harder to stay in place. It didn't hurt, but moving around as much as he was became uncomfortable; not that that stopped him.

"O-of course, M-Mr. Uchiha." Hinata agreed with a small bow as she stood up.

"Hn." Sasuke grunted as an elbow found its way to his chest.

As soon as he heard Sasuke's grunt of an answer, Naruto felt himself being put down.

"I'm not some woman who you can pick up as you please, Teme!" Naruto accused after he scrambled to the other side of the desk to safety next to Hinata.

"Hn." Sasuke replied as he walked to his office, cool as can be. Naruto stuck out his tongue at Sasuke's retreating back.

"D-Do you want to go anywhere in particular, N-Naruto?" Hinata asked.

Naruto gave her another glowing smile as a reward for not only saying his name but also for only stuttering twice.

"Not really," Naruto folded his arms behind his head as he started to consider his options, "hmmm, can we go down to the guy who made me this? I want to thank him." Naruto gestured towards his blue diamond tracking necklace. He never took it off as it was a precious gift from Sasuke.

"Th-then we'll be going M-Mr. Aburame." Hinata said with a returning smile.

She held out her hand which Naruto immediately took; he still needed the support when surrounded by strangers and their staring eyes without Sasuke.

He and Hinata walked towards the elevator and Naruto pressed the 'Down' button. Hinata and Sasuke would always let him push the button so now he didn't even have to ask. He loved seeing it light up and hearing the elevator 'Ding' as the doors opened.

Hinata told him which floor Mr. Aburame worked in and Naruto pressed the button for her. Then the two waited comfortably in the enclosed area with the elevator music in the background.

Naruto never feared enclosed spaces, just the people who would trap him in them. But he trusted Sasuke and Hinata so he would look up at the reflective surfaces on the elevator's ceiling and made faces at himself and Hinata.

When the elevator made the familiar 'Ding', Hinata and Naruto automatically reached for each other's hand before walking out of the now opened doors.

The office floor was set up in a similar way to Sasuke's floor, but the desks and offices themselves were not as lavish. Upstairs practically flaunted power while this was more official and simple.

Naruto looked around while avoiding eye contact while Hinata led him to the back.

When they reached the door, the pair stopped and Hinata politely and lightly knocked on the door.

"M-Mr. Aburame?" she called.

They waited for more than 30 seconds before Naruto started to shift his weight from foot to foot. He never really could wait still.

Then the door opened to reveal a man with a bowl haircut and fuzzy eyebrows.

"Ah! Guests! My dearest Shino, you have been blessed with not one but two youthful guests!" the man shouted.

He looked as if he was going to crush Hinata and Naruto with a hug.

All Naruto could focus on were the arms approaching him. They were going to restrain him. They were going to hold him down until something bad happened.

Naruto started to shake as he let go of Hinata to quickly back away from the impending arms.

When he reached a wall, Naruto shrunk against it, pulling his arms around himself.

Where was Sasuke? Someone was going to hurt him again and Naruto needed _Sasuke_!

Naruto started to whimper. He immediately tensed as he felt a hand lightly touch his shoulder.

Naruto started to unconsciously shake his head.

No. He didn't want any of this. He wanted to be home. He wanted _Sasuke_.

"Naruto, it's okay. Mr. Lee isn't going to hurt you." A comforting voice said above him.

Naruto looked up and saw Hinata kneeling in front of him with a concerned look on her face.

Naruto blink a few times and shook his head to clear his mind of his erratic thoughts. He was safe. No one was going to hurt him. He was no longer a part of a world that was constantly out to harm him. He was a part of Sasuke's world now.

Naruto looked back up at Hinata and gave her a hesitant grin. It was small, but genuinely thankful for her stopping his panic attack.

Hinata gave Naruto a sweet smile as a reward for not completely freaking out. And he was a little proud of himself; he didn't tremble or shout at all, not even once.

Hinata offered a hand to the blonde to help him up. Naruto took it to be polite, but used his own strength to stand back up. When he was standing, he was still holding onto Hinata's hand, though tighter than before.

She led the hesitant blonde back to the office where they walked in on Lee being reprimanded by a girl with buns in her hair.

Naruto smiled at the sight, it was a common sight to see two of Sasuke's bodyguards acting in such a way. Ever since he was introduced to them, Naruto had gotten the impression that Ten-Ten was more of a mother to Lee even though they were the same age.

"Seriously, Lee! You should KNOW that Naruto doesn't like being touched!" Ten-Ten scolded as she gave Lee a smack on the head.

"But it was such a joyous occasion! I was overcome by the power of youth!" Lee defended with wild gestures.

Ten-Ten rolled her eyes and muttered, "Whatever, you _youthful_ freak."

Lee seemed unaffected by Ten-Ten's mutterings as his attention was suddenly drawn towards Hinata and Naruto in the doorway.

Immediately, he made his way to them but halted a respectful distance from them and bowed.

"I do apologize for giving you a fright, Naruto. I am terribly sorry." Lee said as he looked up, his eyes filled with genuine guilt.

Naruto grinned. "It's alright, Lee!"

"Wonderful!" Lee exclaimed as he jumped back into a regular standing position.

Ten-Ten shook her head slightly at her partner's antics before turning herself towards the two in the doorway.

"You sure you're okay?" she asked, concerned.

"You betchya!" Naruto said in a loud voice, smiling wider than before.

Ten-Ten seemed satisfied with his answer and faced a man at a work bench who was focusing on a small machine in front of him.

"Anyway, Shino, Lee and I wanted to let you know that we tested out those new bugs of yours and they work like a charm. They have a greater range than the last ones you have us and had better clarity. I could hear everything this idiot said, even without his shouting." She reported in a business-y tone.

"That is very good. Why use the term 'very'? Because that means my latest work is greater than my previous work." The man she was talking to responded without looking up from his work.

"Ri-ight." Ten-Ten said as she turned away to roll her eyes at the man's response.

"M-Mr. Aburame?" Hinata called to get the man's attention.

Mr. Aburame finally looked up from whatever he was working on. Naruto could see that he was wearing a hoodie underneath his lab coat with the hood covering his head. He wore dark sunglasses and a surgical mask, covering the majority if his face that wasn't cast in shadows from the hood he was wearing.

Naruto automatically flinched away from the man. How he hid his identity reminded him of bad men from the big building that would always intentionally hurt him as a way to restrain him whenever he was brought back there.

Hinata gave Naruto's hand a squeeze. He turned his head so he faced her worried expression.

"What's wrong?" she asked as she turned the both of them so they faced the door instead of the people in front of them to give themselves a little bit of privacy.

Naruto appreciated what she was doing for him. When he was at his weakest and shamefully vulnerable—in his opinion—she would be his strength when Sasuke was not around like now. She would gently reassure Naruto that she was with him and he was not in danger while offering him strength by letting him lean on her. During these times, she wouldn't stutter; Hinata had told him that this was because she would be entirely focused on helping Naruto rather than her own petty fears.

It was not the same as with Sasuke, but Hinata did her best and truly cared for Naruto so it would work most of the time. It also helped that Naruto had yet to have a major panic attack with Hinata around and the fact that Sasuke was always nearby; either in the physical sense or by phone.

"It's just…the way he h-hides his face reminds me o-of—of—" Naruto couldn't finish because his mind was suddenly flashing images of those men who would smile eerily whenever Naruto was brought back to the big building. How they would whisper that he was their favorite before they would beat him. How they would always check to make sure their sunglasses would stay in place before they started to hurt him. How they would make sure they room was darkened before they would force themselves onto Naruto.

Naruto started to heave, taking gasping breathes yet not seeming to be able to intake enough air.

He closed his eyes, trying to force the images out of his head. He needed to think of something else!

He quickly tried to think of something—_anything_—to take his mind off of _them_. He saw a little flash through his eyelids. Curious, he squinted through his eyelashes so he could find out what it was. He saw nothing but a seemingly empty office floor outside the door.

Then he saw it again in his peripheral vision and looked down.

It was his necklace as his chest moved up and down rapidly as he gasped for breath.

It was the necklace Sasuke gave him

Sasuke.

He pictured Sasuke from before when he was accusing Sasuke of cheating on him. How Sasuke's eyebrows slightly lifted to show that he was surprised by what Naruto had said. How his eyes seemed to sparkle with amusement. How his smirk was even wider than before, showing that if Sasuke was normal he'd be struggling not to laugh.

Sasuke.

Naruto's breathing began to even as he calmed down. He became aware that Hinata had pulled him into a hug without his realizing. He gave a sigh of relief and returned the hug.

He felt so weak. It had been less than 10 minutes and he had already freaked out _twice_. Naruto had thought that he had been making a lot of progress…

Hinata looked up at him and gave him a warm, comforting smile. She whispered that he didn't have to say anything and that she understood that it was hard for Naruto. She didn't stutter once do Naruto gave her a large smile, both to let her know that he was fine and as a reward for her own confidence levels.

The two broke from their hug but stayed closer to each other than before as they faced everyone else in the room, all of whom had curious but worried expressions.

Naruto didn't want to answer any questions so he silently asked Hinata to explain for him with a squeeze of the hand.

"Mr. Aburame, could you please not hide your face from us? Not being able to see who you are is uncomfortable for Naruto and myself." Hinata asked the man politely.

"I suppose I will. Why? Because I do not wish to cause any unwanted consequences." The man said as he took off his hood and the surgical mask. The sunglasses stayed on, but Naruto did not mind as much as he thought he would. The man was on the other side of the work bench, two of Sasuke's best bodyguards separated himself from the man, and Hinata was by his side offering him support.

Naruto put a smile on his face and offered a cheerful "Hi! I'm Naruto Uzumaki!"

The man returned Naruto's smile with a small one of his own and a slight inclination of his head as he said, "Hello. My name is Shino Aburame."

"You're the one who made this, right?" Naruto asked as he held up his necklace with his other hand that was not clutching Hinata's hand.

"Yes, that is one of my works. How can I tell? Because it was one of my greatest works to place one of my bugs within the gem Mr. Uchiha presented." The man named Shino agreed as he straightened himself from his slight bow.

"Well I just wanted to say thanks for making the best present I've ever gotten. So, uh, thanks for making the best present I've ever gotten!" Naruto said in a cheerful tone.

Shino's smile seemed so widen a little as he mumbled a thanks.

Before Naruto could say anything else, a knock came from the open door.

Everyone inside the room turned to see Shikamaru, the vice president of Uchiha Corp, standing there.

"Shikamaru? Why'd you knock? The door IS open, you know." Ten-Ten asked.

"It would have been troublesome if I scared blondie here again." Shikamaru shrugged.

Naruto felt a little insulted. He wasn't fragile! Well, he DID have two freak outs today; but if he was made of glass like everyone around him assumed then he'd be a freaking windshield.

But he DID appreciate that ever since Shikamaru had scared him on his first trip to Sasuke's work, the lazy man had been very considerate of the blonde's boundary issues; though he claimed to only do so because not being considerate would be "troublesome".

"I-Is there a reason you are don h-here M-Mr. Nara?" Hinata asked Shikamaru.

"Troublesome as it is, yes I do." The vice president sighed, "Sasuke is almost done with the paperwork and he was wondering where Naruto is."

"Thanks, Shika!" Naruto exclaimed as he pushed past Shikamaru while pulling Hinata along by the hand.

Naruto pulled Hinata towards the elevator and pressed the elevator button that lit up. When he heard the 'Ding', he rushed into the elevator and pressed the button for Sasuke's floor. He started to fidget when the elevator wasn't moving past enough.

Hinata noticed Naruto's antsy-ness. She squeezed his hand and he gave her a squeeze in return but he did not turn to look at her. His eyes were entirely focused on the doors that refused to open.

Finally he heard that blessed 'Ding', and the doors opened to reveal Sasuke across from the elevator waiting for him.

"SASUKE!" Naruto shouted excitedly. He let go of Hinata's hand and ran to Sasuke.

Sasuke opened his arms and let Naruto bury himself in his chest with a smirk.

As soon as Sasuke wrapped his arms around him, Naruto felt all the tension he was not aware he had melt away.

"Ready, dobe?" Sasuke asked into Naruto's hair.

"I'm always ready for ramen, teme!" Naruto looked up into Sasuke's face with a large grin without letting go from the hug.

Naruto and Sasuke headed towards the elevator with Sasuke's arm around Naruto's shoulder with Naruto melded to Sasuke's side.

Naruto saw Sasuke smirk as he dragged the both of them to the 'Down' button so he could push the button before Sasuke could.

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><p><strong>And that was the chapter.<strong>

**So Valentine's Day is coming up. Being single most of my days and for all of my V-Days so far, I have grown kinda apathetic towards the need to have a date for the day, usually choosing to say sarcastic or witty remarks about the day (like how February 14th has the highest rate of house fires all year), but last year I decided to only tell the fellow singles.**

**THIS year, however, I decided to embrace my Stud Muffin Lady Pimp Thug self and basically ask all my friends to be my Valentine. As of now, I have 57 Valentines n.n I'm such a playa.**

**Anyhoo, thanks for all that alerted/favorite this story! And an extra super special awesome thanks to those who review! Reviewers are the best.**


	13. Taken away

**Disclaimer: I don't own anyone in the Naruto world.**

**I used to just think that perverted nosebleeds were just fake representations to show that something in anime/manga is extremely hawt/perverted. Completely fake. But then last night I was reading a particularly hot sasunaru yaoi doujinshi and I got a massive nosebleed!**

**Of course the two were completely unrelated as the nosebleed happened a few minutes after I finished and turned to something else and I got another this morning (no concrete idea about why, maybe b/c the air is so dry?) but I thought it was a funny coincidence. **

**Anyway, onward with the story!**

* * *

><p>Sasuke had made sure that he had memorized the directions to Ichiraku's Ramen before his date—unofficial as his date had no idea what it really was—with Naruto that Friday.<p>

It was amusing when he was getting the directions from Google, his angel was staring in wonder at Sasuke's laptop and had laughed in pure delight and amusement when Sasuke allowed Naruto to play "God" on Google Earth and rotate the world.

After a little extra searching, Sasuke found the most efficient routes to and from the restaurant, the phone number to make a reservation, and found a parking garage nearby for the car.

"Are we almost there yet?" Naruto asked childishly as he spared Sasuke a glance before turning back to the window of the car.

"Hn." Sasuke replied for what seemed like the dozenth time. He didn't mind the questions though; Naruto only asked when the scenery outside the window got boring in his opinion. He didn't mind, though, his angel was really excited about this and Sasuke was quite glad to see such a bright smile on his angel's face.

He made sure to give his driver the night off after dropping his secretary and angel off at the office so that he could be the one to drive Naruto to and from the restaurant; and so far it had been worth it, despite an annoying question or two.

They neared the parking garage and after Sasuke paid the parking fee, he let Naruto choose which space to park on the first floor; there were a surprising amount of empty spots.

Naruto chose one near the back, but squinted most of the time they were in the parking garage due to the immensely bright lights overhead.

"You need an ornament thingy for your rearview mirror." Naruto said as he got out of the car without waiting for Sasuke to open the door for him.

"Do I?" Sasuke asked as he led Naruto out of the parking garage.

"Yeah." Naruto said in an absolute tone to show how serious he was over the subject. "In the Transformers movies, Bumblebee has an ornament that says 'Bee-yotch'." He finished with a nod as if the car named Bumblebee having a bee as an ornament was the perfect argument against Sasuke.

"Is that so?" Sasuke said, knowing he would not insult his car by making it call others a 'bee-yotch' as Naruto called it.

"Mmhmm. Without one, the car will be boring." Naruto explained.

Sasuke sighed, he knew that Naruto would keep up his arguments until Sasuke gave a concrete answer. He didn't want to deny his angel anything so he decided to compromise.

Taking Naruto's hand with his own, he turned to the other and said, "We can pick out one later, but we'll only use it when I drive and you ride in the front with me. Anytime else, it will remain in the glove compartment."

"Sasuke, you're the best!" Naruto exclaimed as he gave Sasuke a large grin that made Sasuke know the compromise was worth it.

"Hn." Sasuke said as he inwardly smiled. Outwardly he simply went back to walking to the restaurant hand in hand with his angel.

So the two walked down the sidewalk to the restaurant at the end of the street, Sasuke listening while Naruto rattled off ornament ideas from what he'd seen in movies or other cars.

Naruto was in the middle of describing how he's seen many taxi cars with fuzzy dice as ornaments when he was interrupted by a loud shout from behind them.

"Well fuck me sideways with a bigass sword! Sasuke, is that you?"

The pair stopped.

Naruto instantly latched himself to Sasuke's arm; Sasuke knew that despite all his progress, people shouting at Naruto still scared him deeply. He could feel Naruto trembling a little and rearranged his arms so that Naruto could be holding onto his torso while Sasuke wrapped his arms around Naruto to both protect and soothe him.

Sasuke did not want to turn around. One, because he had a scared angel so calm, but more importantly because he did not want to be bothered by who was shouting at him.

His old self-proclaimed "best friend", Suigetsu, was striding towards the pair despite the lack of response from Sasuke.

Suigetsu walked until he was in front of the two—well beyond arm's reach for his safety—and to Sasuke's dismay, started to talk-shout-some more.

"Where the hell have you been, man? I haven't seen you in like, ever! You know, that's not the way to treat your very bestest of friends." Suigetsu chastised loudly.

Sasuke gave him a shut-up-Now glare, which the silver haired bastard ignored, like always.

Suigetsu turned his attention towards Naruto, who was still in Sasuke's arms squinting his eyes shut as he tried to block out everything except for the smooth circles Sasuke was rubbing on his back to calm him down since he was still shaking.

"OHHHHHHH, so you were with Blondie, eh? Spent the entire time in bed, right? See, I KNEW that's the reason you bought him! I should get something better than that fountain for being so smart." Suigetsu shouted with a triumphant smile on his face as he leered at Naruto.

Upon hearing the accusation once again that Naruto was bought for sex, his angel whimpered in fright and his trembling increased tenfold as he desperately attempted to block out the idiot's words by burying himself further into Sasuke's chest.

Hearing the frightened sound only seemed to spur Suigetsu on. His face contorted into a nasty grin and was about to continue, but before he could, Sasuke interrupted his thoughts by speaking first.

"Suigetsu." Sasuke spoke with a dark, authoritative tone that screamed for the silver haired idiot to shut up with the softly spoken word.

Suigetsu's focus was redirected to Sasuke, who was giving him the full might of the Uchiha Glare.

Suigetsu flinched a little when he saw it; it seemed to affect him more than usual because he had been out of practice of enduring it and it had been perfected since the last time he'd seen Sasuke.

"I am going to say this once, and only this one time; and you are going to never speak of this again." Sasuke's now completely Uchiha Glare gave Suigetsu chills the he made the aura surrounding the idiot drop a few degrees to further accent his point.

Suigetsu weakly tried to meet the enraged Uchiha's gaze, but kept flinching when he did so.

"I did NOT buy Naruto for sex. He and I do NOT partake in such action. I will NOT harm him in any way. And you will NEVER bring up such subjects while he is present. Understand?" Sasuke threatened as he continued to rub his angel's back.

Suigetsu nodded weakly to his feet that he understood.

Sasuke felt Naruto's shaking lessen with each statement, and felt proud of himself for being able to stop Suigetsu from continuing without resorting to physical violence like last time. He knew that what the accusations the idiot was spouting as well as seeing Sasuke get violent were some of his angel's worst fears and all he wanted to do was to show Naruto that those would no longer be an issue.

He meant what he had said and he promised himself that he would not physically raise a hand against anyone anymore, especially not in front of his angel.

Sasuke sent another glare towards the idiot before leaning down and giving a kiss atop his angel's head.

"I promised you I would never let anything hurt you, and I plan to keep that promise, Naruto." Sasuke whispered into the golden strands, placing another kiss after he finished.

The effect was instantaneous. As soon as Sasuke gave his promise, Naruto immediately stopped trembling; he unattached himself from Sasuke's chest enough to be able to look up in wonder.

Sasuke found himself lost in those beautiful, endlessly blue eyes. They practically begged for more reassurance, radiating a longing to believe Sasuke, and had an underlying hope that all of his promises were true. All the while, they captured and sparkled with the surrounding lights.

Beautiful.

Sasuke wanted to kiss his angel. He _really_ wanted to kiss his angel. He wanted to capture those alluring lips and claim his angel as his lover. He wanted to taste his angel. He wanted those eyes, those bewitching eyes, to close in ecstasy from Sasuke's kiss.

But he didn't.

He held himself back.

Sasuke knew that his angel was not ready for what Sasuke wanted. What his angel needed right now was reassurance that Sasuke would never hurt him; that he'd keep all of his promises. His angel did not need Sasuke to break one such promise by ravishing him before he is ready.

So instead of doing what he wanted; Sasuke gave his angel a reassuring smile and gave a small, light kiss—a peck—on the forehead as a silent guarantee that what he said was true.

The reaction he got for restraining himself made it all worth it.

Naruto gave the most radiant smile Sasuke had ever seen in his life. His angel's smile was so wide, Sasuke could count how many even, white teeth Naruto had. His smile outshone the dimming lights surrounding them on the street.

Sasuke's expression softened as he witnessed the smile and gave a small grin of his own in response.

He pulled Naruto closer into their embrace and said, "Let's go to dinner."

Suigetsu's head popped up from its previously somber position.

"Hey, I wanna come, too!" He shouted.

Sasuke sent him a glare, daring him to come up with a feasible reason for interrupting his long awaited unofficial date.

"We haven't seen each other since you almost sent me to the hospital so best friends need to catch up!" the idiot defended as he crossed his arms in indignation.

Sasuke was about to tell the idiot to fuck off when he felt a little tug on his tie.

He faced downward to see his angel looking up at him.

Sasuke raised his eyebrow to show ask his silent question.

"You should let him join us." Naruto whispered softly enough so that only Sasuke could hear him.

"Why?" Sasuke gently demanded. He was definitely against the idea of allowing the idiot anywhere near his angel.

"He's your best friend, isn't he?" Naruto asked, eyes filled with an innocent curiosity and pure intentions of wanting to see Sasuke make amends with his 'best friend'.

Sasuke wanted to tell Naruto the truth; that Suigetsu's father knew Sasuke' father so he merely knew him the longest and that Sasuke had spent the better half of their forced 'play dates' and time spent together either trying to get away from the idiotic loudmouth or making the loud idiot properly fear him.

When Sasuke didn't reply right away, Naruto elaborated his point.

"Sakura said that best friends might fight, but they should always forgive each other." Naruto whispered just as softly as before.

Sasuke didn't have it in him to deny his angel's innocent ideals about friendship, despite how he could never consider he and Suigetsu ever bring 'friends'.

He gave a sigh of defeat before pulling Naruto into a closer hug so he could inhale Naruto's sent to both calm himself down and for the encouragement needed to deal with the idiot for the rest of their unofficial date.

"Sasuke?" Naruto asked into Sasuke's chest, unsuccessfully trying to pull away to look up, but Sasuke held his waist in place with one hand and using the other hand to hold his angel's head in place.

Sasuke took another deep breath of Naruto's scent before murmuring his answer into Naruto's hair.

"What?" Naruto asked, having stopped wiggling so he could hear what Sasuke had said this time.

"Alright." Sasuke repeated a little louder but quiet enough so that only Naruto could hear what he said.

Naruto wiggled some more before giving up and simply giving Sasuke a squeeze to show his appreciation or as encouragement in place of the smile Sasuke knew he would have given if he had the chance.

"Suigetsu." Sasuke suddenly said, loud enough for the idiot to hear the authoritative voice.

"Yeeeees?" Suigetsu asked in a song-song voice.

"Naruto is allowing to join us," Sasuke emphasized that it was his angel allowing such a thing and not him, "but you are not to say a word out of line." The Uchiha warned the idiot, looking up from the embrace to give Suigetsu a glare.

Suigetsu's grin widened; Sasuke knew that meant that he was mentally thinking of possible 'out of line' comments that would be said all throughout dinner.

Normally, Sasuke would simply give the idiot a new bruise on the head or face to join the past ones whenever he saw that grin because that grin meant he would ignore all reason and be as annoying as possible for his own amusement.

But Sasuke would do no such thing with his angel nearby, nor would he allow Suigetsu to try his usual antics.

Turning back to his angel in his arms, Sasuke leaned down once more to bury his face into Naruto's hair.

"I'm going to tell him a little about your past." Sasuke whispered into Naruto's golden locks.

Naruto tensed immediately, he tried to look up but Sasuke but Sasuke's hand kept his head in place.

"Wh-wh-what?" Naruto whispered, his voice trembled with fear along with his entire frame.

Sasuke honestly didn't want to let anyone know about Naruto's past because of how it haunts him, and because he knew that Naruto himself was ashamed of it and didn't want anyone to know. But he knew that Naruto would hate all the comments Suigetsu would make if he was allowed to continue.

"I won't tell him more than necessary, and you can stop me at any time you want, I promise." Sasuke whispered as he started to rub soothing circles into his angel's back.

Naruto continued to shake, whimpering ever so slightly from the fear of someone else knowing he was a sex slave being whored out to the highest bidder for years.

Sasuke sighed before continuing, "Suigetsu is an idiot who doesn't understand boundaries unless given a reason to. If I don't tell him why he shouldn't make such remarks about your presence here then he'd continuously and relentlessly harass you."

Naruto was no longer whimpering, but he was still shaking in fear.

"I'll only tell the bare minimum, I promise." Sasuke whispered.

Naruto's trembling started to lessen, but the fear was still evident.

After a few moments, Naruto gave a hesitant nod into Sasuke chest before tensing a little and squeezing Sasuke's torso harder for support.

"Suigetsu," Sasuke called out once more, not bothering to lift his head from atop his angel's head, "you know all those disgusting things you have accused me of the last time you barged into my apartment?" The tone he used was serious, demanding for the same from Suigetsu.

"You mean about you buying blondie here for a little S&M? Oh hell yea, never seen you so riled up." Suigetsu replied, not quite as serious he needed to be, but no longer joking.

"There's a reason."

"Eh?" the idiot asked, "Not because you bagged yourself a new boy toy?"

"No." Sasuke growled, but then resumed his serious tone, "Because Naruto has already experienced all that and more."

"Wait, what?" All jokes were gone from Suigetsu's voice.

Naruto's trembling increased as did the tempo of Sasuke's hand that was rubbing his back.

"Naruto has been subject to human trafficking with sadistic people buying him. All of your senseless comments remind him of those horrifying experiences that most would not have been able to live through with their sanity intact at their hands. I bought him to keep him away from that life, but there are constant reminders that still frighten him. So you are not to say another word about the subject. Is that clear?"

"But—"

"Not. Another. Word." Sasuke finally looked up to give Suigetsu another Uchiha Glare.

Suigetsu was silent. During the wonderfully quiet moment, Sasuke returned his attention to his angel, still trembling in his arms. Sasuke whispered that it was over and that neither he nor the idiot would bring the subject up again. He would whisper more soothing words of comfort and intermediately give Naruto kisses on top of his head.

After a few more comforting words and another promise that his past would not be talked about any more, Naruto's trembling started to stop.

"S-sorry." Naruto whispered so quietly that if Sasuke wasn't so close or Suigetsu so quiet, Sasuke would not have been able to hear it.

"You don't have to be sorry." Sasuke whispered back, slowing the pace but still gently rubbing Naruto's back in a circular motion.

"B-but—" Naruto started but was interrupted by Sasuke.

"It's not your fault and no one blames you. You went through so much, so of course it would still frighten you. It takes more than a few months to fully recover, and that's okay and normal."

Naruto's trembling almost completely stopped as he hesitantly nodded his head against Sasuke's chest to show that he was listening to what Sasuke was saying.

"Besides, we can blame it on the idiot over there." This time Sasuke spoke in a normal volume so Suigetsu could hear that he was being insulted.

Naruto gave a small laugh as Suigetsu sputtered his indignation for being called an idiot rather than a best friend.

* * *

><p>The dinner date went well despite the third wheel.<p>

Being annoyed with said wheel, Sasuke forced Suigetsu to pay the extensive bill.

At first, Suigetsu scoffed at the punishment, believing it to be not a big deal because the restaurant was relatively cheap and it was well known that Sasuke was not a ramen enthusiast.

Sasuke smirked through the entire meal at Suigetsu's horrified expression as they witnessed bowl after bowl of extra-large ramen be devoured within seconds by Naruto, and subsequently Suigetsu's money.

After his ninth bowl, the owner himself delivered Naruto's tenth bowl, which had been upgraded to the house special, proclaiming it on the house in appreciation for Naruto's enthusiasm to Suigetsu's obvious relief.

Sasuke's smirk threatened to grow into a full blown smile when he saw Suigetsu's expression when Naruto happily ordered three more bowls after practically inhaling the most expensive item on the menu within minutes if not seconds.

As they left the restaurant, the owner and his daughter happily saw them out as Naruto had become their new favorite customer, to which Naruto happily proclaimed that this was his new favorite restaurant. Naruto's expression was of pure joy when the owner told him that they did take-out.

Sasuke was less than thrilled, but was happy to see his angel smiling so happily even with the idiot nearby.

True to Sasuke's threat, Suigetsu had not brought up anything inappropriate during dinner; inappropriate meaning anything about Naruto because the entire dinner conversation between Naruto and Suigetsu seemed to be about embarrassing stories about Sasuke.

The three started to walk down the street towards the parking garage. Sasuke and Naruto walking hand in hand while Suigetsu walked slightly behind them. Suigetsu had asked to be able to 'crash' at Sasuke's apartment, but Sasuke outright refused.

Naruto then offered that Sasuke and he could give Suigetsu a ride home before Sasuke could stop him.

Suigetsu had stopped and stared at Naruto, making the blonde squeeze Sasuke's hand in fear.

Then Suigetsu broke into a wide smile and said, "Even though you made me practically bankrupt tonight, you're alright, blondie!"

Naruto gave a smile—more pure and beautiful than anything Suigetsu could come up with—in return.

"And, uh," Suigetsu paused to look at his feet, "I'm sorry about what I said earlier."

Sasuke gave a warning look to not elaborate on what 'earlier' meant, but Naruto understood.

"It's okay. You didn't know." Naruto said quietly.

Suigetsu looked up and had an honestly grateful expression on his face.

Sasuke then started to move forward, pulling Naruto with him. After a few steps, Naruto picked up pace and fell in step with Sasuke while Suigetsu followed.

When the trio neared the parking garage, they saw that the previously blinding lights had nearly all gone out, leaving only a few dimmer lights on casting the majority into shadows.

Naruto gripped Sasuke's hand harder when he saw how dark the garage was.

Sasuke stopped walking and turned his angel away from the darkness and made him face the opposite direction where most of the light was.

"What's up?" Suigetsu asked as he looked in confusion at Sasuke's sudden actions.

"The parking garage seems to have lost power and Naruto is afraid of the dark." Sasuke quickly explained.

"Woah, really?" Suigetsu asked as he peered around the pair in front of him to glimpse at the dark parking garage for himself.

Naruto weakly nodded his head to show that it was indeed the truth.

Sasuke then led his angel to the idiot and did something he never thought that he would do, but had to at the moment.

"Stay with Naruto under this light," Sasuke ordered Suigetsu while he pointed to the lamppost next to them, "I'm going to go get the car and bring it back."

Suigetsu nodded his head while he reached for Naruto's hand.

Naruto stayed still, though. His expression was fearful, but he did not have a glazed look in his beautiful eyes so he was not reliving any memory.

Sasuke walked in front of Naruto and kneeled in front of him, taking Naruto's hand.

"I'll be right back for you, okay?" Sasuke said with a small smile only reserved for his angel.

Naruto still had a slightly fearful expression, but nonetheless he nodded and gave Sasuke a small smile in return.

Sasuke nodded and stood up, reluctantly transferring Naruto's hand to Suigetsu's before walking towards the garage.

When he got to the entrance, he saw three guards talking to one another.

Sasuke cleared his voice to announce his presence.

The men looked irritated, but seeing who it was they immediately apologized and asked what they could do for him and if he needed anything.

"What's going on?" Sasuke glanced towards the large lights that have been turned off.

"We're not sure." One man answered.

"But we think that someone snuck into the generator room and turned off the main lights." Another quickly supplied when Sasuke's expression darkened at the previous inadequate answer.

"The rest of the power works, though." The third guard added.

"Hn. I parked on this level." Sasuke said, he was going to ask if he could borrow a flashlight in case the dim emergency lights weren't enough, but he was cut off.

"I'll get it for you, sir!" One guard quickly shouted, raising his hand like a child in a classroom.

Sasuke was going to refuse, but figured that he'd rather not waste time wandering in the semi-darkness so he agreed. He gave the make and model of the car as well as the keys, he also made sure to give a warning with a glare that nothing had better happen to his car.

The guard squeaked his assurance that he understood and would not let anything happen to the car before he ran off towards the back of the garage.

Sasuke waited for a moment in silence before he heard a scream.

Sasuke whipped his head and entire body around because he knew that scream.

It was Naruto!

Running towards where he knew Naruto and Suigetsu were; Sasuke could barely see what was going on.

A couple of brutish men were surrounding his angel and Suigetsu!

Suigetsu was already limp in one of their arms with Naruto struggling to get away from them.

Sasuke tried to run faster—he NEEDED to get to Naruto! He needed to protect his angel!

One brute grabbed onto Naruto's shoulders. Naruto shouted once more and threw his arm backwards and hit the man in the crotch.

The brute fell behind him, falling into fetal position of his side.

Two more brutes took one of Naruto's arms each. Naruto tried to kick the others surrounding him, but the one holding his right arm punched him in the stomach.

Naruto's legs gave out as he gasped for air; the punch must have winded him.

Sasuke was less than nine blocks away. He tried to run faster. He needed to get there faster.

One man with gray hair and large glasses walked up from behind Naruto. In his hand he had a cloth.

He then snaked his arm around Naruto's head and pushed the cloth onto Naruto's lower half of his face.

Naruto tried to struggle; tried to turn his head away, but the man held firm.

Sasuke was less than eight blocks away. Faster! He needed to be faster!

Naruto's wide, frightened eyes started to droop. His entire body stopped moving before he too was completely limp.

NO! This couldn't be happening! What were those men doing? This couldn't be happening!

Sasuke needed to be there right now! Not seven blocks away! NOW!

The men had walked to a van at the burb and opened the doors. One or two of them went into the back, including the one previously in the fetal position, before the one holding Suigetsu's unconscious body handed it to one of them inside the van.

"NO!" Sasuke shouted as he continued to run.

Then Naruto's body was handed inside the van, the men all wearing triumphant, perverted grins on their faces.

"NARUTO!" Sasuke shouted as if calling out would somehow make all this disappear; as if it would bring his angel back safely into his arms where he belonged.

The one with the glasses looked towards Sasuke and gave a smirk, glasses flashing before he opened the door and sat in the front seat.

"NO!" Sasuke shouted so loudly his voice cracked a little.

The van's engines roared as it sped away.

"NO!" Sasuke's throat hurt, but he wasn't aware of the pain; the pain of what was happening was too raw.

The van turned a corner and was out of sight.

"NOO!" Sasuke had reached the place where it all happened. All that remained was the cloth that the man with the glasses had thrown aside and a few droplets of blood.

"NARUTOOO!"

Sasuke sank to his knees, crying in desperation.

That didn't happen.

That did not happen.

That did not just happen.

'_Naruto…_'

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><p><strong>And that was the chapter.<strong>

**Sorreh for the wait heh heh, this chapter was just a bitch to start. My inner muse was for some reason against me writing in general.**

**I actually started writing this last Saturday and took me over a week to complete.**

**Oh! But last Sunday was so much fun that I couldn't write then! It was the first _real_ snow of the year at my college, like REAL snow that stuck rather than just beautified rain like we've had before. So naturally the entire school had to celebrate! I live with the other freshmen in 'Freshman Village' where all the freshman dorms are (surprisingly), but also where all the fields and quads are. The main field is currently under construction for a new Senior Housing as well as a new field so the quad outside my dorm is the first open space with easy access available.**

**So after dinner a friend and I decided to play in the snow, meaning I made many snow angels while she told me I'm crazy since there was a mini snowball fight going on. At that point, it was little teams against little teams, so naturally we had to recruit! By the time we had our team, it was large teams going against other teams forming alliances. Soon, it became one side of the street's dorms against the new honors dorm across the street in an epic war! A lot of upperclassmen joined the cause as like I pointed out earlier, we have the most open space.**

**After a little while, some cars decided to drive through. At first, we gave them temporary immunity, but then people started to use them as cover! So then it transitioned to any car passing by became a target! It was a lot of fun, someone even got out of their car to join our epic war! But then I got hit as all people do and my nose started to bleed because the air was still adjusting and the snowball aggravated it as well as gave me a bruise on my cheek. So I went into my dorm to the bathroom to clean up. When the mini-bleed was over, I started to head back but saw that many people were rushing inside.**

**I asked what was going on, and someone shouted "COPS!". I look outside and sure enough I see those flashing lights, so I run back to my room along with my alliance members. Later we learned that the cop was driving through on a safety run without their lights so it was a target in our war. But then someone hit their windshield—actually a FEW people hit the windshield—so they needed to stop to wipe it away so they could see. Before they get out, they flash their lights making many people run inside like I did. The Cop then gave a no-hitting-cars warning to those remaining and left. It was soooooooooo much fun! I so love college in the snow!**

**Anyway, hope you liked the story and show appreciation through reviews! Seeya later!**


	14. Hopeless

**Disclaimer: I don't own anyone in the Naruto world.**

**There was a flu outbreak on campus a little while back. Luckily, neither me or my roommie caught it, but I had to refrain myself from hugging people indiscriminately like I usually do! Ahhhhh it was torture! I could feel myself shriveling up because I was dangerously low on my hug quota! I am an extremely affectionate person with little outlet for my constant need for hugs!**

**Luckily, the flu seems to have left campus so I can once again hug people to my heart's content!**

**Warning: There are many mentionings of and a little bit of rape in this chapter.**

**Onward with the story!**

* * *

><p>Dark. Everything was dark.<p>

Maybe there was a small amount of flickering light in the corner of his eye, but Naruto's head hurt too much to even attempt to focus on it.

It hurt to open his eyes. It hurt to try to move; so he didn't.

Naruto stayed where he was, wherever that was. He was not completely sure what position he was in. He assumed on his back because he could breathe somewhat easily and there was nothing physical covering his face. It was only his lungs that refused to work properly, feeling as though they were slightly smothered from the inside. It may not have made much sense, but Naruto's fuzzy and equally smothered mind could not think of an explanation.

He also assumed that he was lying down on his back as he felt no extra pressure from his behind like he would if he were sitting.

Not that this newly acquired information really helped Naruto. His head was pounding, his chest felt smothered, and the majority of his body was numb; he only had a little had a little feeling in his torso and head which ached.

If he could think properly, he supposed that he could be thankful that he couldn't feel his limbs because they would most likely ache as much as the body parts he could feel. But presently, all he could focus on was trying to breathe properly.

Every breathe felt muffled, but as time went by whatever was muffling it was slowly dissipating.

'_Breathe, breathe, breathe…_' Naruto instructed himself, not allowing himself to focus on anything else until he once again had mastered the art of effortlessly breathing.

It could have only been a few more minutes, but it seemed like hours until Naruto was able to properly breathe.

Naruto gave a few experimental deep breathes, and then gave a relieved sigh when he was able to do so without much trouble. His chest still felt heavy, but no longer felt like he was being smothered from the inside; only heavy.

He then directed his focus on opening his eyes. His head still ached and did still hurt to force himself to open them, but instead of the previous jabbing feeling, attempting to open his eyes merely gave him a headache.

Naruto's eyes themselves felt heavy, but in a different way from his chest. His chest felt like something was on it and his eyes felt like they were glued shut.

He knew from trying that he could move his eyes around underneath his eyelids, and it didn't hurt to move them anymore; all that was left was to actually open them. For a few moments, the effort seemed futile. No matter how much he scrunched up his face or furrowed his eyebrows, his eyelids seemed to refuse to open.

Finally, Naruto achieved his personal goal of opening his eyes. They were watery at first, but after rapidly blinking a few times they seemed to clear, but he wasn't entirely sure. His vision was blurry, like his eyes were out of focus.

He scanned the room he was in, trying to take in every hazy detail he could understand with his still fuzzy mind.

His scan was in vain, everything was dark. The only thing that really registered was a blurry, yellow light that flickered every so often.

Since the light was so fuzzy, Naruto assumed that his eyes had yet to adjust and that was the reason he could only see that blurry, yellow light. He blinked rapidly for a few moments, hoping that would somehow speed the process, but the extra blinking had eventually only increased his headache.

Naruto sighed and closed his eyes. It dulled the pain a little so he decided that he'd try to open his eyes again later, but for now he'd keep them closed.

Instead of looking around with his halfway adjusted eyes, Naruto discovered that he could feel around with the previously numb limbs that he had been ignoring. They no longer felt numb, just heavy like his chest; as if something was pressing down on them.

His head was still pounding, so focus was the key to discovering where he was without increasing the pain. By focusing on one limb at a time, Naruto figured that that way he'd be able to somewhat ignore his head.

First he tried his right arm. He wiggled his fingers and discovered that he had full use of them. Then, Naruto bent his elbow a little to confirm that he had full control over that joint; the same with his right shoulder. Naruto then moved his arm around in a one-armed snow angel motion to feel for his surroundings.

The surface he was on was not hard, like the floor would be, but it was not necessarily soft. It was generally flat with the exceptions of patterned indents into it. His head was still pounding so he did not dwell on the problem of thinking about what he was lying on.

He turned his attention towards his left arm and did the same tests with the same results of a fully functional arm. He also did his one-armed snow angel test with the same infuriating outcome. Out of frustration, he did a snow angel motion with both arms. He felt the extra movement accelerate his heart rate and feared for his newfound breathing ability so he stopped frantically moving his arms.

Naruto then applied some pressure on whatever surface he was on with his hands. He discovered that when he applied more strength, then the surface would lower, and bounce right back up when he lifted his hands. Like springs.

He could have been on a bed…but not like the beds at home. The realization scared Naruto to the core; he wasn't at home. He was not with Sasuke.

Naruto's eyes flew open. All pain ignored in his realization of reality. Memories of what had happened flowed back to him like pictures in a slideshow. He saw Sasuke running towards him before the cloth was pressed to his face and blacked out.

'_SASUKE! SASUKE! SASUKE! SASUKE! SASUKE!_' Naruto shouted in his head as he sprang into a sitting position. He scanned the walls of the room he was in for the Uchiha to save him, but all he saw was a large empty room with grey walls, much like basement of sorts if he had to guess, with a flickering light on a table near a door.

A door!

Naruto scrambled to get off the non-home bed so he could leave the non-home room to get to the door so he could go home, but something was pulling on his left ankle.

He looked down towards his ankle and nearly cried out in shock and fear; there was a chain cuffed to it tying him to the bed!

Naruto frantically grabbed the chain and started to pull on it, desperate to detach himself from the bed! He had to leave! All the while, Naruto cried for Sasuke in his mind.

He tugged the chain, braced his legs against the other bedposts and pulled on it, he tried picking the lock on the parts cuffing his ankle and the bed, and he even tried breaking the bedpost itself. All efforts were in vain and Naruto was starting to lose hope.

'_No!, No, no, no, no, no, no, no, NO! This can't be happening again! It can't, it can't, it can't, it can't, it can't, it can't, it can't, it can't, it CAN'T! Not again! This has to be a dream! Oh PLEASE let this be a nightmare_!' Naruto cried in his head as he clutched it, fisting chunks of his hair in his mental agony.

Memories of all the other times he had been chained to beds scattered throughout his mind without order. Most of the times had been First Master attempting to 'tame' him, but every Master aside from Sasuke had done so at least once a month!

Naruto was disoriented, clutching his head as if that would stop the onslaught of his haunted past returning to him. He was not sure if he was in one of his memories or not; it all seemed too _familiar_.

"No, no, no, no, no." Naruto whispered to himself as he rocked back and forth, hands still grasping the sides of his head.

He could practically feel those disgusting acts being done to him again; almost_ see_ those bastards' smug looks of pleasure before they would start violating him in the most brutal of ways they would save for the bed because he couldn't escape.

"Sasuke…" Naruto whispered to himself with tears welling up in his eyes, wishing with every fiber of his being that Sasuke would come through the door with the key, hold him in his arms and tell him that everything was alright, that he had gotten rid of the people who had kidnapped Naruto and that he was going home.

Naruto wrapped his arms around himself, he _needed_ Sasuke to come through that door _now_!

Almost as an answer to his silent prayers, the door started to open.

"Sasuke?" Naruto asked, hoping that it was the dark haired man that would walk through that door and take him home. It had to be Sasuke. It had to be Sasuke. '_It HAS to be Sasuke!_'

The door opened all the way to reveal a man with dark hair stepping down from some stairs, but not the right dark haired man Naruto wanted.

It was First Master.

"No…" Naruto whispered. First Master's hair was black like Sasuke's, but much longer and borderline greasy. It covered the majority of First Master's pale, angular face, but still revealed at least one eerily yellow eye at a time. His pupils still seemed as if they were slits, like the snakes First Master keeps.

"No, no, no." Naruto repeated in the same quiet volume. First Master was wearing a black suit…he would only wear his black suits whenever he was feeling particularly vicious and would always without exception take out his frustrations or sinister fetishes out on Naruto.

First Master leered at Naruto, a wide grin spread across his face. But the grin was not out of happiness; it was out of anticipation.

More memories assaulted Naruto's mind of every other time he had seen that grin. That _creepy_, inhuman grin that sent chills directly to his spine, making him tremble with fear.

He saw whips lashing him, splattering his blood onto the walls First Master had painted white for the occasion. He saw pale arms extending towards him as equally pale fingers wrapped around his neck, cutting off his air supply until he passed out. He saw this grin leering up at him as his body hung, hog-tied from the ceiling with a pale hand holding the rope that held him up. He saw a Taser Gun approaching him at the slowest of speeds, promising a slow, painful torture. He saw snakes slithering all over his naked body as First Master dangled the keys to the cuffs linking each limb to the cot inside the snake 'sanctuary' where First Master kept the snakes he knew did not like anyone besides himself. He saw First Master's assistant slamming into him while First Master recorded the entire 'show' while pointing to screens showing similar 'shows' of Naruto and other people First Master offered him to.

He saw a knife approaching his face with his blood already staining it.

Naruto's eyes widened as he was brought into the present. First Master was walking towards him.

'_SASUKE—HELP!'_ Naruto cried in his head as he frantically backed up as far as the chain would let him to the head of the bed with no blankets or pillows.

"What's this, my dear pet?" First Master asked in his sickly silky tone as he sauntered over towards the bed, "It seems as if you have forgotten who you belong to."

"No." Naruto denied softly as he watched First Master's movements in fear. He hated the way First Master spoke to him; calling him his 'pet' when he was in a good mood, calling him worse every other day! Naruto hated how he would elongate his 'S's, mimicking those snakes he keeps as _pets_.

"Hmmm? What was that? _Pet_?" First Master asked, emphasizing his repulsive nickname for Naruto by widening his spine-chilling grin.

"No!" Naruto repeated louder, his eyes wide with fear as he continuously trembled in fear.

First Master stopped moving, but the grin was still in place, "'No' what? Pet?"

"No! I-I…I don't b-belong t-t-to y-you an-n-anymore." Naruto shouted, stuttering as his trembling increased tenfold. He used to talk back to First Master during his time spent with him, but that was before he knew just how badly he would be punished and before he had to suffer through Masters Two through Four and _their_ punishments.

Instead of looking annoyed—like the other times Naruto had refused to be 'owned'—First Master's grin widened; his eyes gleaming with malicious glee.

"Oh really now? Well then, _pet_, just who exactly DO you belong to, hmm?" First Master asked as he sat down on the side of the bed, toying with the chain attaching Naruto to the bed.

Naruto hated that. Sasuke had assured him many times that he had bought Naruto not to _own_ him but to _save_ him. Sasuke never called him intentionally demeaning names to show superiority! Their nicknames for each other were affectionate! Sasuke never did anything to scare Naruto!

Naruto's eyes swam with unshed tears. He missed Sasuke. Sasuke.

"Sasuke…" Naruto said to himself, trying to find comfort in the name.

"Hmm? Did you say something?" First Master mocked Naruto by putting his pale hand up to his ear, pushing the greasy curtains of black hair to reveal a pasty pale ear.

"Sasuke!" Naruto repeated, louder this time. He may have disliked the term, but Sasuke _did_ pay for him. He may have lamented over the fact that he was not a free man even under Sasuke's care, but never in his life had Naruto ever been so grateful for the fact that someone had ownership over him.

The hope that the fact that Sasuke owned him would save him from his current situation was fleeting, but he remembered that First Master was the owner of a large company and absolutely hated the idea of competitors taking the merchandise or profits 'rightfully' belonging to him. Naruto also remembered painful nights after First Master had come home from work after his competitors tried to steal from him.

Naruto hoped upon hope that First Master would respect other people's ownership almost as much as he demanded respect for his own.

"Sasuke bought me! I belong to _Sasuke_ now!" Naruto shouted at First Master, wishing that First Master would leave him alone; wishing that Sasuke would come to save him.

Unfortunately, First Master's cold laughter told Naruto that the wish was only a wish that would be left unanswered.

"Oh no, no, no, no, my dear pet. This 'Sasuke' does _not_ 'own' you." First Master chuckled chillingly as he returned his focus onto Naruto while playing with the chain once more.

"Y-yes he does! He-he bought me f-from that auc-auction." Naruto stammered in fear as his eyes met First Master's eyes.

"Mm-mm-mm," First Master wagged a finger at Naruto as his grin grew, "he _rented_ you. _I_ own you."

Naruto froze.

"No…no! You're LYING!" Naruto screamed as his trembling returned tenfold. He couldn't belong to First Master! He couldn't! He belonged to _Sasuke_!

First Master let loose a merciless laugh.

"You may not know it, pet, but you've been one of the biggest investments of Sound Industries' history." First Master said to Naruto as his fingers started to curl around the chains he had been toying with.

"Wh-what?" Naruto asked in his confusion.

"Since you were taking such a long time to learn how to be an obedient fuck toy, I decided to extend our little side auction to include you and others like you. Of course, as my _personal pet_, you are only rented out so you can be tamed by the time I choose to play with you again. You are only rented out for a year at a time before you are to be returned. Of course, you always make us the most profit whenever you go back on the market so I try to occupy myself with other toys.

"But the last few toys weren't nearly as much fun as you were, so I wanted to take you back. Unfortunately, this 'Sasuke' of yours left before we could get the necessary contact information so getting you back has been…irritating. But this has taught me to keep my toys closer so I'm not putting you on the market any time soon. So we'll have lots of time to play." First Master tugged a little on the chain connected to Naruto's ankle and pulled out a knife from a pocket inside his suit.

Naruto pulled his ankle back to himself, "…No…" he whispered in fear. First Master was lying; he HAD to be.

"Oh, yes. "First Master confirmed, then his expression shifted into an obviously mocking thoughtful one with his grin still evident as he continued as an afterthought, "You know, pet, absence really does make the heart grow fonder. During your time away, I've discovered how much I've grown to love our…activities. Now that you've been tamed, I know that you'll remember just how much you love them and myself rather quickly."

Naruto was divided between indignant anger and raw fear. Now in the presence of First Master, he remembered clearly all the 'activities' First Master had forced upon him in sickly detail; even the ones he had tried to suppress. The memories and just being near First Master scared Naruto to the core. But all that talk about _love_?

THAT wasn't LOVE! What First Master did to him—was DOING to him—was NOT love! Love was gentle! Love was caring! Love was kind! Love was…

'…_Sasuke_.'

Unshed tears welled up in Naruto's wide, azure eyes. Love was SASUKE! SASUKE was love!

Sasuke had always protected Naruto from everything from people who intimidated him to his mental demons. Sasuke had provided everything for Naruto from the comfort he needed to the food he wanted. He brought Naruto happiness. He was Naruto's hope. He made Naruto smile. He _loved_ Naruto!

And Naruto loved Sasuke.

Naruto loved Sasuke.

A tear fell down Naruto's scarred cheeks, followed by more.

He had finally realized that he loved Sasuke with all his heart. He realized that his happiness was almost completely dependent on his Uchiha, and that he was perfectly content with that because just being around Sasuke had made him happy. He realized how much inexpressible joy he felt whenever Sasuke would smile at him. He realized how all of his problems seemingly melt away along with all of his boundaries when Sasuke had held him. He realized how much he had missed Sasuke when his Uchiha was at work and how much delight he had felt whenever Hinata had offered to bring him to work with her so he could be closer to the one person he wanted to see most. He realized how much his meals tasted better whenever Sasuke was around just because he was sharing it with his most important person. He realized just how much he needed him.

But he realized too late.

A tug on Naruto's left ankle pulled him out of his thoughts and into the present.

Naruto gasped at the looming figure of First Master who had returned his attention once again to Naruto, held his knife tauntingly in one hand, held the chain connected to Naruto's ankle in the other, and was crawling on the bed closer to Naruto.

With every word he began to speak, he pulled on the chain bringing Naruto closer to him, "And. Now. You're. All. Mine."

Fear filled Naruto's very being. He was frozen; his body to frightened to move.

He stared unwaveringly into First Master's reptilian eyes. Those eyes promised more pain in the next hour then a week during his first captivity. Those eyes promised that there was no hope left in Naruto's world.

First Master was the one who broke eye contact, his focus no longer on Naruto's faces but rather the knife he held in his hand.

The knife he was using to cut Naruto's clothing off his body.

Tears fell freely once more as Naruto experienced fear and shame like no other. He did not want First Master to see him naked. The clothes he wore represented his freedom from First Master and his dedication to Sasuke. Without his clothes, it felt as if he was betraying Sasuke, as if he was _letting_ First Master use him once more. Without his clothes, he knew exactly what First Master would do to him.

Naruto felt dirty. He felt like he was back to being in First Master's possession like last time. He felt like there was nothing tying him to Sasuke now. Nothing except—

The necklace!

Naruto's eyes immediately found the necklace Sasuke had given him laying proudly on his chest; a firm, physical defiance to being First Master's _toy_. Naruto was Sasuke's! Naruto loved Sasuke!

First Master followed Naruto's eyes and gave his full attention to Naruto's necklace, his expression unreadable though the grin was still plastered on his face.

First Master pulled on the necklace, dragging Naruto up to First Master's eye line.

The grin Naruto was not aware he had been smiling fell when he met First Master's gaze.

"And who gave my pet this, hmm?" First Master asked as if knowing what it represented to Naruto.

First Master's grip tightened around Naruto's necklace. Naruto saw a possessive gleam in First Master's eyes, like the one he had seen many times before when First Master complained about competitors stealing what was his, but much more fierce.

First Master pulled the necklace and Naruto closer, leaning in as well. Naruto knew that he was going to kiss him; mark him.

Naruto spat in First Master's face.

It broke his heart to do so, but he used all his strength to pull away from First Master, breaking the necklace.

He then tried to escape, forgetting he was literally chained to the bed, but First Master grabbed him by the neck and pulled him back down on the bed.

The extra force on his neck caused Naruto to cough violently. First Master only gave him a few moments of uninterrupted hacking time before grabbing his neck once more and pulling him up to eye level once more.

The force made Naruto want to cough some more, but First Master had pulled his knife out once more and held it to Naruto's cheek, making him freeze in fear and trepidation once more.

"It seems as though my little pet has not been tamed yet, even after all these years apart." First Master hissed; his sickly grin no longer evident on his face.

Naruto's eyes darted from First Master's eyes to the hand holding the knife against his cheek. His eyes watered from the effort it took to not cough and press his cheek into the knife's blade.

"But I think I've found a way to keep you obedient." First Master breathed into Naruto's ear, making him shiver with disgust and fear.

Almost as if on cue, the door opened.

"Lemme go, you fucking bastard!"

'_I know that voice!_' Naruto realized with small gasp. He shifted his gaze from First Master to see the figures in the doorway.

He saw Suigetsu and First Master's Assistant.

Suigetsu was kneeling on the floor, he looked bruised and battered with his hands behind his back. He seemed to be struggling with pulling his hands apart, and judging from the clinking noises, Naruto knew that his hands had been cuffed together.

First Master's Assistant was smirking, his large, round glasses flashing with the flickering light besides him. He too held a blade, a scalpel by the looks of it, to his captive's face. His stance was confident and his smirk was smug. Naruto knew that he was following orders and knew exactly what First Master had planned for Naruto.

"Now let's see if you can understand, pet."

Naruto's eyes immediately found First Master's gaze as soon as he started speaking to him. The knife was no longer pressed against his cheek, but rather being waved tauntingly in front of him like a pendulum.

"You'll be my obedient fuck toy, and he gets to live. Disobey me and you're not the only one who will pay the price." First Master explained derisively, as if he were talking to a child.

Naruto was frozen. He didn't expect First Master to go so far as to threaten another person whenever he tortured Naruto. He had always seemed to derive some sort of sick pleasure from watching Naruto fight against whatever bonds he was in.

But to actually threaten someone else? Naruto knew he had no choice. He couldn't risk someone else's well-being. He couldn't risk _Sasuke's_ best friend's life! No, he wouldn't drag anyone else into his mess.

Maybe if he promised First Master that he'd never run away, never disobey him, and be a good…._pet_…. then maybe First Master will set Suigetsu free!

Naruto mentally nodded his head to show that he understood, but then realized that his body was frozen in fear and shock so First Master could not see that he was showing that he understood.

Naruto tore his gaze from the dangling knife between First Master's fingers into his eyes to confirm that he understood the…agreement, "I—"

"DON'T DO IT, BLONDIE!" Suigetsu cut him off.

Both Naruto and First Master turned to Suigetsu, both with looks of confusion but First Master's expression also held annoyance.

Suigetsu was standing up, leaning against the wall and panting from effort and pain. He stood at least two arms' length away from First Master's Assistant, who looked like he had been pushed on the ground and was rubbing his head with one hand and reaching for his glasses with the other.

Naruto returned his attention immediately back to the white haired man who was about to speak again.

"DON'T FALL FOR THIS BASTARD'S TRICKS! This guy might get his little pussy of a lackey to push me around a little, but it'd be NOTHING compared to a pissed off Sasuke! Don't let that fucker fool you, blondie! He's just using me as live bait to get what he wants without any resistance! He'd have this pussy throw in a few punches but in the end they'd need me to be relatively healthy in order to keep the threat good!" Suigetsu spoke as if he had been around the situation more than once.

Naruto's thoughts were swirling in his head. He didn't know if he should listen to Suigetsu or to First Master.

"Kabuto!" First Master hissed as a warning to Suigetsu and Naruto as well as a command for First Master's Assistant.

First Master's Assistant nodded his head, glasses flashing, and started to walk over towards Suigetsu.

"Just wait for Sasuke!" Suigetsu shouted out before First Master's Assistant pushed a rubber gag into his mouth. Naruto's eyes widened, he recognized the gag from his first captivity.

Suigetsu's words resonated within Naruto's mind. He said to wait for Sasuke. Did that mean that Sasuke was coming to save them? Naruto hoped that was true. Naruto _needed_ that to be true!

Naruto's focus snapped back to First Master as he turned back to Naruto.

"Contrary to what he said, pet, I have no need to keep him alive. If you misbehave enough, I will not hesitate to kill him in front of you as an example. Then, I'd just grab another toy from our Industries' side auction and have _them_ share your punishment. The process would just repeat itself and those lives lost would be entirely YOUR fault for disobeying."

No…Naruto couldn't bear it if anyone got hurt because of him. He knew better than to attempt to gamble with First Master's words. First Master would always go through with his threats.

He couldn't see any way out of this mess. Suigetsu had said that Sasuke would save them, but when? Naruto couldn't wait for a fleeting hope, not when somebody else's life was in danger.

Naruto froze when he saw First Master lean forwards towards his face. He closed his eyes, trying with all his might to pretend he was anywhere but here.

Suddenly Naruto felt something wet against his cheek. He opened his eyes and realized that it was First Master's unusually large tongue!

Naruto instinctually flinched away, but realized his mistake when he saw First Master's expression.

"I-I-I'm s-s—" Naruto was cut off from his apology by First Master barking out his Assistant's name, who responded with a quick conferment that he understood.

Naruto's eyes snapped towards Suigetsu when he heard the other cry out in a muffled pain.

He gasped when he saw blood drip from a wound from Suigetsu's leg.

"N-No! Don't hurt him!" Naruto shouted, turning to First Master, his eyes wide in his desperation; pleading for the man to only punish him instead of Suigetsu!

First Master turned back to him; annoyance and irritation along with an underlying malicious glee from the situation were carved into his eerie expression.

"Is my little pet going to behave now?" he asked in a condescending tone that still managed to keep the underlying threat of what would happen if Naruto didn't obey evident.

Naruto furiously nodded his head to show that he would obey him.

Suigetsu's muffled shout could be heard, it sounded as if he was trying to dissuade Naruto from his decision, but was quickly cut off by another muffled cry of pain.

"That's very good, pet." First Master complimented as he tugged on the chain again and pulled Naruto into a position lying down underneath him, close to the edge of the bed. He stroked Naruto's scarred cheek before speaking up once more, "Because if my little pet were to disobey me again, I'm sure Manta would be thrilled."

"Wh-what?" Naruto asked, utterly confused. Manta was First Master's favorite snake, the only poisonous snake he allowed to slither free—when guests weren't around. But why would a snake be happy if Naruto disobeyed First Master?

"See, if you defy me again, pet, Manta will be eating one or two of your friend's limbs." First Master explained, his previous grin of perverse anticipation spreading across his face once more.

Naruto gasped, but quickly clamped his mouth and bit his lips between his teeth for good measure. He wanted to scream at Suigetsu to find a way out! He wanted to yell out how insane that threat was. He wanted to shout to First Master to leave Suigetsu out of this!

But he was afraid that if he made a sound, that First Master would interpret it as defiance and go through with his threat.

"So you'll be the best behaved little fuck toy there is?" First Master asked in his condescending tone because he already knew the answer.

Naruto nodded his heard more furiously than before, "Yes!" he whispered in case First Master wanted a verbal conferment.

"Then on your knees!" First Master commanded as he threw Naruto's body off the bed.

Naruto hit the wall, but ignored the pain and scrambled to get on all fours, unsure of what First Master wanted. Did he want him to bow?

"Come here!" First Master's tone was no longer taunting or condescending, but commanding and malicious.

Naruto glanced up and saw First Master sitting on the edge of the bed. He crawled quickly to where he sat and kneeled in front of his feet, still unsure of what he was expected to do, though he had an idea. He just wished that he was wrong.

The grin returned on First Master's face, no longer veiled by any pleasantries or deceit. It was pure pleasure from being the Master, ordering around his slave.

"Unzip me." First Master spread his panted legs further apart, leaving no room for misunderstanding.

Naruto mentally gulped, he raised a trembling hand to do what First Master told him to when he was cut off by First Master.

"With your teeth." The grin grew as First Master leered down at the blonde.

Naruto froze for a moment. He had never been told to do that in the past. Usually First Master would remove his own pants in his frenzied lust.

But Naruto internally shook his head. He couldn't worry about those sort of things—or even about himself—now! Suigetsu's life was on the line!

Naruto took in a breath to attempt to calm himself—futile as it may be—and returned to his hands and knees and crawled between First Master's legs.

He tried to focus entirely on the zipper by itself, ignoring what it was a zipper for, ignoring what was underneath the zipper, ignoring what was sure to happen as soon as he finished his task, and most importantly: ignored First Master above him.

When he finished his task, he didn't have time to mentally congratulate himself or back away. Immediately afterwards, First Master revealed that he had decided to go commando today and grabbed hold of the back of Naruto's head and plunged it forwards.

Naruto knew that First Master wanted a blow job, and had been subject to such rough actions before many times in his life so it was by reflex that he opened his mouth.

First Master had stood up, forcing Naruto to crawl backwards.

First Master had grabbed hold of fistfuls of Naruto's hair and was forcing his manhood inside of Naruto's throat, thrusting into it without mercy.

Naruto gagged every so often, but it went unnoticed by First Master. He heard Suigetsu's muffled shouts from behind him along with grunts of frustration by First Master's Assistant.

Naruto tried his best to use his old coping mechanism from before Sasuke. He tried to distance himself from his body; trying to pretend that it was all happening to somebody else besides himself.

But all the assault to his throat preventing him from breathing right or being out of practice from the coping mechanism made distancing himself rather difficult. It took longer than before, and any time he got remotely close to achieving his momentary bliss from this hell, hell was thrust forward into the back of his throat and made him gag again.

He tried to focus entirely on his breathing again, like when he first woke up into this living nightmare. Breathing out of his mouth was not an option because First Master was unrelenting in his assault on his throat.

He tried to focus on breathing through his nose; taking a breath between breathes. Just in, and out. Just in, and out. Breath in, and breath out. Ignore the bitter taste in his mouth, ignore the sounds from above, ignore what the accelerated pace meant. Just in, and out. In and out.

Suddenly, First Master came inside his mouth, making Naruto gag uncontrollably. Having the appendage inside his mouth was bad enough, but now his _cum_? He knew that First Master expected—demanded—that he swallow it. It made him sick knowing that First Master's seed would be down his throat and literally inside of him even after this torture ended.

But he couldn't risk Suigetsu's life. Suigetsu didn't deserve any of this! He was innocent! All he did was be physically near Naruto when he was kidnapped! Naruto refused to let Suigetsu get hurt, not when he could do anything about it.

Feeling absolutely disgusted with himself, Naruto swallowed.

First Master laughed and grabbed Naruto's chin, forcing him to look up at First Master. Naruto could feel some of First Master's cum dripping from his mouth to his chin.

"On the bed." First Master ordered.

Naruto immediately nodded his head to show that he understood and stood up, hurrying over to the bed.

He crawled onto it, headed towards the head of the mattress, knowing that First Master would wanted him in the center of the bed so there would be no chance of unintentionally falling off the bed.

Unexpectedly, Naruto felt the chain on his ankle being pulled, dragging him on his stomach.

"Stay there." Naruto heard from behind him. Naruto froze; refusing to move a muscle unless First Master ordered him to in fear for Suigetsu's safety.

He then felt cold fingers he identified as First Master's fingers curling themselves around his hips, forcing them upwards.

He found himself face-down on the bed with his backside in the air in front of First Master.

"Normally," First Master hissed into his ear, sending shivers of fear down Naruto's spine. He felt First Master's body on top on him as well as First Master's member rubbing against his ass, it felt like First Master had melded himself to Naruto's figure when he leaned down against him.

"I would take my time and play with you, pet, but all this waiting has made me rather impatient. And besides, you've been a very bad fuck toy, pretending you don't belong to me. You need to be punished." First Master taunted as he unmolded himself from Naruto.

Naruto felt the body heat leave him, but still felt First Master's fingers around his waist.

He then felt First Master's member against his ass again, aligning itself against Naruto's entrance.

Naruto swallowed in fear; he began to tremble in terror. He knew that this meant. It meant that First Master was not going to prepare him at all! First Master was going to thrust into him raw, making it hurt all the more.

The fear was overtaking Naruto. His resolve to keep Suigetsu out of danger was wavering. It felt as if though if First Master did this, then it would be the ultimate betrayal to Sasuke! Like if First Master did this, then Sasuke would never be able to find him! Then Sasuke would completely reject him and leave him there.

'_No! No! I don't want this! I want Sasuke! SASUKE! SASUKE! HELP ME, SASUKE!_' Naruto desperately shouted in his head as he tried to hold back tears and whimpers.

He could feel First Master apply a little pressure to Naruto's entrance with his member.

Then it left as the hands on his waist rearranged themselves.

This was it. First Master was going to do it.

'_Sasuke…_' Naruto cried in his head as tears fell down his cheeks.

Suddenly the door opened!

Naruto heard an excited, muffled shout behind him followed by a grunt of pain then something crumpling loudly on the floor.

He felt First Master move to twist around and see what was going on.

"What is this?" First Master shouted indignantly, anger seeping from every syllable spoken.

Naruto heard footsteps walking into the room from the stairs along with whatever crumpled on the floor be dragged off to the side.

He then heard Suigetsu's muffled shouts, then Suigetsu's loud breathing as if the gag was removed.

The gag did seem to have been removed because next Naruto heard, "FUCK, SASUKE! TOOK YOU LONG ENOUGH, YOU DICK!"

'_Sasuke_?' Naruto almost couldn't believe what he had heard. Was it really Sasuke? Did he really come? Was it really him?

Naruto took advantage of the lack of hands on him and scrambled back to the head of the bed, curling himself into a ball next to the frame.

Once he made sure he was relatively safe and covered up, he did what he craved to do and raised his head and faced the doorway.

It was Sasuke!

Naruto felt all the fear leave his body. Sasuke was here! Sasuke would take care of everything! He was safe with Sasuke in the room.

Naruto noticed that Sasuke's bodyguards, Lee and TenTen, were also in the room. Lee was standing guard over First Master's unconscious Assistant and TenTen was helping Suigetsu out of the handcuffs on his wrists.

Azure eyes met obsidian, each getting lost in the other.

"Sasuke!" Naruto whispered to himself, reassuring himself that Sasuke was really, really there! That this wasn't a dream; Sasuke had really come to save him!

Sasuke didn't say anything, but gave Naruto a small smile. A smile that said how much he missed him, how hard Sasuke had searched for Naruto, and how utterly relieved he was that he had found him.

"Who the hell are you and why the fuck are you down here?" First Master shouted, pointing an accusing finger at Sasuke.

Naruto jumped; he had forgotten about First Master.

Sasuke's expression morphed from his small smile to a full out Glare against First Master.

The aura surrounding Sasuke and First Master was frighteningly tense, Naruto could actually feel the temperature around them dropping several degrees.

Sasuke looked angrier than Naruto had ever seen him, and he had to remind himself that it was because of First Master and not aimed at him.

Sasuke's sole focus was on First Master, and every word he spoke to him dripped with the intent to kill.

"Get. The. Fuck. Away. From. My. Angel."

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><p><strong>And that was the chapter!<strong>

**So my mom and little sister came to pick me up from college so I could go home for a Spring Break filled with reunion dates with people back here. It was kinda late at night (for driving on highways), like around 9:50ish. I'm rockin' out to The Lion King soundtrack along with other Disney classics, we are about less than a half an hour away from the state border when all of a sudden my mom starts to breathe very heavily. Like a louder version of hyperventilating.**

**She gasps between breathes that she needs a rest stop and goes for the closest exit. I'm calmly trying to tell her that she needs to pull over, my little sister silently freaking out in the back. Mom repeats that she needs a rest stop and I firmly tell her no because she NEEDS to pull over!**

**She finally complies. She gasps out that her heart rate has accelerated and frantically points to a 5-hour Energy drink. She is still breathing heavily, so I calmly but firmly tell my little sister to get me the McDonald's bag we had gotten earlier the car trip so Mom could breathe easier. Little sis is crying because of the stress and fear so I take it upon myself to grab her hand and make her repeat that everything is going to be ok. I then try to coach my mom through breathing while calling Dad to let him know what's going on.**

**Mom gasps that she feels like she's going to feint so I call 911. I calmly tell THEM what is going on and they reply that help is on the way but there's an accident ahead of us so it is understandably a little delayed.**

**So I'm back to coaching my mom how to breathe, trying to calm a frightened little sister in the back, and updating Dad about everything. It was taking awhile and Mom was feeling feint again so I called 911 back because the reassuring lady told me to in case anything got worse. Another woman answered and gave me some advice on how to make breathing easier for Mom.**

**Finally, the ambulance came! They took Mom inside the ambulance, which was hard because while we were pulled over and had our hazard lights on and everything, we were rather close to the highway so it would have been very dangerous to try to come out that way.**

**When she was getting checked out, I had to calm down my little sister who refused to let go of me as well as explain to the paramedics that my Mom has Type 2 Diabetes and took a 5-Hour Energy and that her heart rate had accelerated so she was hyperventilating.**

**In the end, she just needed a more stable place to calm down. Maybe something else, but I was busy filling out our health insurance information and calming my little sister down by making her listen to Disney on my ipod rather than medical talk between the paramedics and myself and rubbing her back while she squished my panda backpack between herself and myself in our hug.**

**Then the paramedics asked if I could drive the car to the nearest rest stop while we wait for Dad to pick us up. I told them that honestly, I had been out of practice because I still had my permit (because freshman aren't allowed to have cars on campus and I pulled a Shikamaru and didn't see the point in wasting my time when during high school I wouldn't have been able to drive much anyways because there wouldn't be a car TO drive and when there was someone else could get me where I wanted) and didn't have much experience driving on the highway at night, especially with a frightened little sister and recently recovering mother.**

**Thankfully, Mom was able to drive the -2 miles to the rest stop area where we waited for my Dad and older sister who drove the car we were in while Dad drove Mom back home.**

**Moral? Not much, just wanted to share my welcome home from college experience.**

**Oh! And to offer some medical advice: If someone is having trouble breathing like hyperventilation do to heart rate (can't say much about stressed or shock induced hyperventilation) you should:**

**-get rid of any constricting clothing like bras or tight shirts.**

**-Lay them down with something under their head.**

**-Try to coach them soothingly through breathing, trying to relax them by telling them exactly what to do.**

**-If it doesn't go away or gets worse: call 911!**

**And nowwwww-thank you so much for alerting/favoriting this story!**

**And an extra thanks to those who reviewed! My inner muse was having a really hard time with the beginning and reviews helped us plow through them in effort to not disappoint you!**

**Those who did not review should feel shame, and wonder if an update could have been earlier had they too inspired my inner muse.**

**LOL sorry for the long A/N, but you got a long chapter so meh.**

**Review pleeeease ^_^ they make me smile a lot.**


	15. Guardian Angel

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

**Sorry 'bout the long wait—it was a combination of a little bit of writer's block because after this chapter I've got nothing planned, finishing a story, planning new stories, and writing the first chapters of some new stories (trying decide which ones to continue quickly verses take my time), and currently writing a one-shot that is proving to take longer than I had originally thought. Then I decided to put those on hold and shoot out this chapter real quick.**

**I feel like I should warn you: just because Sasuke has arrived, does NOT mean that First Master has given up :C Okay, you have been warned.**

**Onward with the chapter!**

* * *

><p>Sasuke was glaring at that fucking son of a mutt—because he is DEFINITELY not good enough to be a bitch—who dared to even breathe the same air as Sasuke's angel!<p>

Sasuke had been devastated when Naruto—and Suigetsu to a lesser degree—were taken. He was practically inconsolable, near catatonic when his bodyguards found him by the lamppost where his angel was stolen from him. They had brought his vice president, Shikamaru Nara, who had promptly slapped his back and reminded Sasuke that Naruto still was wearing the necklace with Shino's bug in it.

After that, the group had piled into the company's surveillance van that Shino had brought in; TenTen had told Lee to drive Sasuke's car to save them from youthful proclamations.

Sasuke had called his old family friend, Kakashi Hatake, who used to be a private investigator and still had many friends with the local police as well as connections in almost every branch of law enforcement.

Kakashi, having realized just how important this was to Sasuke, rushed to help with the search and joined the other four in the surveillance van. He had used his connections to help search for Naruto's abductors and promised to help arrest the fucking son of a mutt.

The group of five—with Lee on call—then searched for Naruto; desperately on Sasuke's part. Once Shino had found approximately Naruto's location, the van had gone speeding off in the direction of the home of Orochimaru, Sound Industry's founder and CEO.

Sasuke could honestly say that Uchiha Corp. had never done any real business with Sound Industry, though that never stopped Orochimaru from attempting to. Uchiha Corp dealt more with the business end of life, as well as some real estate on the side which was what Sound Industries aimed for. The Sound Industry was more about the material comforts in the retail world. The company was growing rather quickly in the past five years, but not enough to become a potential partner like Orochimaru had been hoping for or a threat to be squashed. It was just another company.

Until now.

Now, Sasuke saw that bastard for who he truly was; 'First Master'. The one who had caused his angel the most pain; Sasuke knew this because of fleeting descriptions of the cretin by his hesitant angel who greatly disliked the subject.

"_Wh-why do you even want to know abou-about F-F-F-Fir-First-st M-M-Mast-ster?" his angel had asked, stuttering and shaking like crazy due to fear, even in the comforting embrace Sasuke had pulled him into before he asked about the man behind the adorable but terrified blonde's nightmares that had woken him up yet again, and subsequently Sasuke._

"_So we can catch that bastard soon." Sasuke promised, meaning every word he said._

"_B-but _WHY_?" his angel pleaded; his hands griping on the shirt Sasuke wore. His angel clearly did not want to speak about the man of his nightmares._

"_Because I want to help stop these nightmares." Sasuke explained as simply as he could. He left out the part where he would personally beat the consciousness out of the bastard and hang his lifeless body in an open area where he would pay for his sins in some sort of gory way._

_His angel furiously shook his head against Sasuke's chest at the idea of physically speaking about First Master._

"_We won't actively search yet, if you don't want. The description will just be so we can be on the lookout so we can make sure that he never comes close to you again." Sasuke assured; unaware that the promise would be broken._

_Naruto didn't answer right away, but eventually nodded his head once against Sasuke's chest._

_Sasuke did not say anything, only continuously rubbing his angel's back like he knew Naruto loved and appreciated; letting Naruto choose the pace._

"_He…" Naruto swallowed and gripped Sasuke's shirt even harder before trying again, "He ha-has long b-b-black hair, p-p-p-pale sk-skin, a-a-and-d yellow ey-eyes—" Naruto managed before cutting himself off, breathing heavily as he tried to calm himself down._

"_Shhhh, it's okay. Shhhhh. You did great, you don't have to continue." Sasuke whispered into Naruto's hair as he rocked them both back and forth in a soothing tempo._

At the time, Sasuke was mainly concerned with calming his angel and reassuring that the new information would be used to keep him safe.

Sasuke had called his old PI friend, Kakashi Hatake, and asked for a check for that description for anyone on the sex offender register list. The search came up empty, but Kakashi had promised to keep an eye out for Sasuke.

He hadn't even thought about checking rising businesses like Sound Industries, or their CEOs.

But Sasuke knew that Sound Industry's CEO, Orochimaru, was the same First Master who was the reason Naruto was stolen into the human trafficking world. The same First Master who had tortured Naruto for an entire year. The same First Master who had caused so many fears and nightmares. The same First Master who had scarred his angel's face.

The same First Master whose pale hand was curling around the chain attached to his angel's ankle!

Sasuke's eyes narrowed as his Uchiha Glare intensified. That BASTARD would definitely not survive after daring to literally chain down his angel.

Apparently the bastard did not get the message because the bastard's pale lips were forming into one of the creepiest grins Sasuke had ever seen.

"Get. Away. From. My. Angel." Sasuke repeated, focusing the darkening aura of his Uchiha Glare at the pale man near his angel.

The bastard's response was to widen his creepy grin and sneered, "_Angel?_" And laughed a cold, hissing laughter. "You think my dear _pet_ is your _angel_?" the bastard laughed some more.

Sasuke nearly growled at the words he had just heard, "Pet?" he asked in a dark tone. This bastard called HIS angel a PET? A PET?

"A PET?" Sasuke shouted, his anger keeping him from simply glaring at the bastard.

"Pet." Orochimaru answered calmly, as if he were repeating the word to someone who was not inches away from grabbing one of TenTen's many guns and shooting him.

Sasuke was sorely tempted to shoot the bastard, he really was. The only thing that prevented him from doing so was his angel; or more specifically, his promise to never show his violent side to his angel again. He was in the middle of weighing the pros and cons of this promise—settling things violently and quickly but scaring his angel even more, or calmly through coercion and infuriatingly slow help but reassuring his angel of his safety with others—when movement happened.

TenTen had taken out her gun, having made sure that Suigetsu was relatively okay and had started to aim it at Orochimaru at the same time the bastard had yanked the chain connected to Naruto's ankle, pulling him close enough so that the bastard had grabbed Naruto.

Orochimaru then roughly pulled Naruto into a sitting position in front of him on the bed, holding his knife to Naruto's neck.

Everyone else—save for the unconsciou glasses man Lee was holding down—tensed at the sight. There was no way that they would allow Naruto to get hurt any more than he already had been hurt.

Naruto's eyes widened when he was being jerked into a position that blocked his First Master from the aim of the gun pointed at them. Blue eyes darted—terrified—between Sasuke and the gun, pleading for help and fearing for the worst.

Naruto's lips parted as if he were going to cry out in fear and pain, but the bastard's knife-free hand grabbed Naruto's forehead and pulled it backwards so that Naruto was forcibly leaning against Orochimaru.

The bastard's eerie grin widened as he whispered something into Naruto's ear that Sasuke could not hear; whatever is was, it certainly frightened Naruto whose eyes widened even more and boy was shaking in unmistakable fear.

"So THIS is this 'Sasuke' that has rented you, hmm?" The bastard asked Sasuke's angel in a louder voice so that everyone in the room could hear; the knife dangling in front of Naruto's face as Orochimaru played with it in his fingers.

Sasuke could see Naruto's eyes water as they flitted to Sasuke's face before closing, letting the tears fall. He nodded his head in conferment to the bastard's question.

Wait—did the bastard just say _rented_? Sasuke did not RENT his angel! He did not like that his reason for 'owning' Naruto was because he bought him, he would prefer that his angel became his through mutual agreement and affection. But for now, he'd stick with one of the only things a greedy bastard like Orochimaru would understand.

"I didn't 'rent' him. I bought Naruto from that auction." Sasuke said in his darkest tone.

At this, the bastard laughed again.

"You BOUGHT him?" another laugh, "You naïve child! You did not BUY my precious toy here, you merely RENTED him!"

Sasuke growled in protest, but didn't move from where he stood; he wouldn't take any chances when his angel's safety was on the line.

Sasuke mentally ran through his options. The violent and quick option seemed to be out of question with his angel being used a shield, so that only left negotiation and imprisonment. He internally damned himself for telling Kakashi to wait in the van with Shino on standby to call for the local cops or an ambulance if needed.

Sasuke was brought back to reality by hearing his angel whimper a little. He sounded so defeated and scared that the sound nearly broke Sasuke's heart. All he wanted to do was take his angel into his arms and tell him that everything was going to be okay; that he would protect his angel from all the dangers in the world.

The bastard had maneuvered one of his pale arms around his angel's flawless skin, wrapping itself around Naruto's exposed torso, causing Naruto to whimper and close his eyes tighter.

"So you think that my pet is an angel? Hmm?" the bastard sneered as his hand lowered itself against Naruto's tan torso, knife still in hand.

Sasuke didn't answer. He only continued to glare at the son of a mutt with hatred pouring from every fiber of his being.

"But aren't angels pure?" Orochimaru asked in an obviously fake innocent tone, as if he were one of the creepiest children alive asking their parent about folk lore.

Again, Sasuke refused to answer. Instead, he slid his own hand behind his back, out of view from the bastard. He motioned for TenTen behind him to give him one of her extra guns.

The bastard let loose his merciless laugh once more, "This toy here is FAR from _innocent_! He's already been trained in the art of pleasure and has already serviced _many_ willing customers."

Sasuke growled once more and was grateful to feel the cool and empowering feeling of TenTen's extra gun. He had to use all of his self-control when he saw Naruto whimpering and crying from the accusations against him.

"But I can see that he has been out of practice, hmm? You haven't been using him for his intended purpose?" the bastard sneered, his hand still lowering itself so it was almost reaching Naruto's exposed manhood.

Naruto gasped and feebly tried to hide his lower region with his legs, but the hand still on Naruto's forehead jerked him to the side a little as a warning and the blade of the knife in Orochimaru's other hand pressed lightly against Naruto's stomach.

The bastard then held the knife with two fingers and used the rest to grip Naruto's newly re-exposed member, causing Naruto himself to cry out in a combination of a whimper and a whine that let all the inhabitants of the room know just how terrified and upset he was by the action.

Sasuke automatically gripped the gun in his hands and aimed it at the bastard's head.

Seeing this, Orochimaru let go of Naruto's member and re-gripped the knife and held it to the blonde's face.

"Ah, ah, ah, you don't want to do that." The bastard taunted, holding up a finger as if to scold the raging Uchiha.

Sasuke cocked the gun and took a step closer, the promise of murder swirling in his eyes.

The bastard pulled a whimpering Naruto in front of him so the gun was aiming at the crying blonde boy now. Seeing the gun aiming at him, Naruto flinched and tried to back away, but was stopped by the bastard behind him.

The bastard ran his hand through blonde locks, "Shhh, pet, shhhh. Little Sasuke over there won't shoot. That is, if he doesn't want to hurt you. But then again, I have no idea just how violent he can be."

Sasuke mentally cringed when he saw Naruto's eyes dilate in fear again. He would give anything to have his angel feel safe once more.

Sasuke lowered the gun a little; still raised, but no longer aiming at his angel's forehead.

"I think that Little Sasuke over there needs to be taught a lesson, don't you, pet?" Orochimaru asked in a sickly sweet tone that made Sasuke want to throw up and gauge his ears out.

His angel's response was to tightly close his eyes. Sasuke could see that his angel was trying desperately to block out whatever his First Master was saying.

"Little Sasuke needs to learn just who you belong to." The bastard whispered in a stage whisper so Sasuke could still hear every word said.

His angel whimpered a little and tried to shake his head no, but the knife was pressed to his cheek.

Then Orochimaru took his knife to one of the scars he had inflicted upon Naruto years ago.

Everyone else in the room tensed; Orochimaru had placed the tip of the blade to the scar instead of the side of the blade like he had before. It was obvious that he was implying that he would re-cut the scars again, but no one in the room—save Orochimaru and the unconscious glasses guy—wanted him to go through with it. They were hoping that he was bluffing; looking for an easy and relatively safe way out of the room through taking a hostage.

Naruto's scream of pain filled the room and took away any hopes that the crazy bastard was bluffing.

Orochimaru had taken the blade and sank if into Naruto's cheek deep enough to cut across the scars again, laughing the entire time.

He did not stop with the first scar as a warning, instead he quickly moved onto the parallel scar on Naruto's other cheek and cut across it again.

One pale hand was holding Naruto's hand in place while the other hand cut through the third scar on Sasuke's angel's face.

Sasuke stared wide-eyed at the bastard as the knife cut across the forth scar. He didn't want to believe that the bastard was really hurting his angel, but Naruto's strained screams didn't give him that luxury.

As Orochimaru cut across the fifth scar—laughing wildly—Sasuke lifted he gun once more.

Sasuke took aim.

Orochimaru cut across the final scar and raised the knife in a triumphant way, screaming "He's MINE!"

Sasuke took the shot.

He hit the bastard's hand that was holding the knife. The bastard hissed in pain and dropped the knife and Naruto's head to clutch his own bleeding hand.

Sasuke shrugged off his jacket and kicked it to Suigetsu who understood immediately what Sasuke wanted.

Suigetsu grabbed the jacket and ran to Naruto and pulled him off the bed to the opposite side of Orochimaru, as far as the chain would let him so Naruto's foot was stretched towards the bed but the majority of his body was on the ground with Suigetsu.

Suigetsu then took the jacket and covered Naruto's naked body with it. He also tore off his own sleeves to make makeshift towels to cover the newly cut scars on the blonde's cheeks.

As soon as his angel was out of the way, Sasuke shot Orochimaru's other arm.

Then his exposed leg. And the other.

Once all of the bastard's limbs had at least one bullet in them, Sasuke strode closer to the bastard; glaring at him.

The bastard was no longer laughing, but sending Sasuke a glare of his own. Of course, it paled in comparison to the completed Uchiha Glare, but it got the promise of revenge and the message of hatred across.

Sasuke's glare intensified as he shot the gun once more in Orochimaru's right shoulder, and immediately again in the left shoulder.

The bastard hissed and closed one eye in pain, panting heavily.

Sasuke walked closer until he was right in front of the crippled man who was attempting to glare at him with his teeth bared in a snarl.

Sasuke raised the gun, placing it directly on the bastard's forehead; a point blank execution-style shot. He did not have any mercy for those who messed with his angel.

He was about to pull the trigger when sobs reached his ears.

Sasuke turned his head to see Naruto's terrified expression as his angel watched his every move.

Instantly, Sasuke was torn. To go through with the shot and get his revenge but make his angel see him take another's life; no matter how worthy it would be. Or take mercy on his angel and go through with the painfully slow 'justice' system.

One look into those impossibly blue eyes told him that he should give his angel a taste of the justice that was denied to him all his life.

Sasuke sighed and instead of shooting the bastard like he wanted to, he simply took the gun and hit the bastard on the back of the neck as hard as he could with it, knocking the bastard out cold.

He motioned for Lee to detain the bastard along with his glasses wearing sidekick and for one of his bodyguards to find the key to the chain attached to his angel's ankle.

The Uchiha did not bother to check to see if his orders were followed, instead he threw the gun to the side to be picked up later and made his way towards his angel.

Naruto's eyes did not lose their horrified expression as they followed Sasuke's movements, but he did not shrink away when Sasuke kneeled in front of him.

Sasuke hesitantly raised his hand to Naruto's face. Suigetsu handed him the sleeves of his shirt that had been pressed onto Naruto's cheeks and Sasuke took over applying pressure so they would not bleed too much.

When he reached his angel's face, Sasuke was slightly relieved to see that Naruto did not flinch away, but was concerned by how the fear did not leave that angelic face.

"Naruto?" Sasuke whispered in a soft voice, wiping blood from his cheeks.

When his name was spoken aloud, Naruto finally reacted. Tears started to spill from his eyes at a faster rate and his body began to shake with the sobs he was heaving. Naruto curled into himself slightly, hunching his shoulders and hugging himself for comfort.

Naruto had also hung his head low so that Sasuke could no longer see his face.

Sasuke was unsure about whether or not to physically comfort his angel like he normally would. He did not know what his angel was fearing at the moment so he did not touch Naruto in case it was he who his angel was terrified of at the moment.

There was a tap on his shoulder and TenTen's hand came into view, holding the key to the cuff on Naruto's ankle.

Sasuke took the key and slowly stretched his arm to reach Naruto's extended ankle so he could unchain him from the bed.

Sasuke could see Naruto's eyes focus on the key Sasuke purposefully placed in his line of vision. Naruto did not raise his head to follow the chain, but instead lowered it when the key left his peripheral vision.

He gently held his angel's trembling leg as he unlocked the cuff on his ankle. When it was unlocked, he gently placed it down and watched as Naruto immediately retreated it back to himself and started rubbing his ankle automatically.

Sasuke was unsure of what to do. His angel—the one person who cared most about—was curled up in a sitting ball against the bed he was nearly raped on, crying and shaking from obvious fear. All Sasuke wanted to do was to take his angel in his arms and take him home where his angel would know he was safe.

Deciding that simply kneeling in front of his angel would solve nothing, Sasuke quietly whispered, "Naruto?"

Once his name was whispered, Naruto launched himself into Sasuke's arms and broke down crying.

Instead of hugging himself, Naruto wrapped his arms around Sasuke's torso and buried his face into the crook of Sasuke's neck.

Immediately Sasuke wrapped his arms around his angel, knowing what to do. He sat down and pulled Naruto into his lap, wrapping one arm around his angel's jacketed shoulders while rubbing his back in the same soothing way he always had.

Naruto leaned into the hug and squeezed even harder. Sasuke could feel wet tears against his cheek and desperate breaths against his neck.

While rubbing his angel's back, Sasuke felt a wave of relief. His angel was safe. SAFE! Naruto was no longer in the clutches of that fucking bastard! Naruto was there in his arms; safe.

Naruto whimpered again so Sasuke started to whisper, "Shhhhh, it's alright. You're safe now. I've got you. I've got you."

Sasuke started rocking their bodies back and forth in a slow tempo that had proved to help calm Naruto in the past. To Sasuke, there was no one else in the room and nothing else in the room that mattered. He had his angel in his arms and it was going to stay that way.

"I-" Naruto started saying so quietly that Sasuke almost didn't hear.

Sasuke didn't press his angel to speak. Naruto was probably trying to calm down enough to speak clearly without his voice cracking; Naruto absolutely hated it when his voice cracked because it made him feel weak and young so he never spoke when he didn't trust his own voice.

Sasuke continued to rock back and forth while rubbing Naruto's back. He also placed his head atop Naruto's gold hair; another physical reminder that Sasuke was there for Naruto.

He waited a little longer until Naruto spoke again in a raspy whisper as if something was agitating his throat, "I knew you would come for me."

Sasuke hid his smile with golden strands of hair and place a soft kiss on top of his angel's head. He gave Naruto a light squeeze and whispered back, "I'll always come for you. I'll follow you anywhere and everywhere, and I'll always protect you."

At Sasuke's words, Naruto's breathing became less desperate to a manageable pace. He still hiccupped a few times, but the words had calmed Naruto enough so that he had stopped sobbing.

Sasuke placed another kiss atop Naruto's head and resumed rubbing his back. The pace he rocked the both of them and rubbed Naruto's back lessened because Naruto did not need to be soothed but rather a way to calm himself down.

It took a little while, but Naruto's breathing became calm and even. The tears had stopped streaming from his eyes and he was no longer squeezing Sasuke but rather simply holding him; returning the embrace.

"Can we go home?" Naruto asked in an exhausted, but still hoarse voice.

Sasuke nodded his head against Naruto's and maneuvered his arms so that when he stood up he was carrying his angel bridal style. He made sure his jacket was completely covering Naruto's body, but it only covered up to Naruto's lower thighs so parts of his legs were unfortunately exposed.

He held his angel tight enough so that there was no chance that he could fall and so that he could remind himself that Naruto was safe in his arms, but not so tight that it would be uncomfortable.

Naruto positioned himself so that he could hide his face in Sasuke's neck, probably so he could focus on leaving rather than where he was leaving from.

When Sasuke passed Lee, he said, "Call Kakashi and make sure that bastard is put in custody."

Lee nodded and saluted him, thankfully aware that Naruto would not appreciate loud noises and refrained from shouting something about youth.

Sasuke expressed his appreciation for what his bodyguards did for him and his angel by nodding his head at them, both returning the nod with satisfied expressions.

Sasuke walked slowly—making sure to not jostle his angel while he walked—up the stairs and through the mansion so he could get back outside. The mansion was nowhere near as large as his old family home and was probably new, indicating that the bastard was from new money unlike Sasuke, so it did not take long to find his way outside.

He saw his car behind the surveillance van. As he walked by the van, he nodded his head to the tinted windows and to where he knew hidden cameras were. He knew that Kakashi and Shino inside saw the gesture of thanks.

He walked to his car and saw that the doors were unlocked and the keys were on the driver's seat. He wasn't worried about anything being stolen; the van in front of them would have made sure nothing happened to Sasuke's car.

He opened the passenger door with difficulty by bending down to open it with the hand supporting his angel's back. He had leaned backwards so Naruto's weight was mostly on his torso, allowing him to pull his hand away quickly. The scene may have been comical, but Sasuke found that he did not care. Naruto was worth lowering his pride.

Besides, he'd make anyone who commented pay dearly.

Naruto was falling asleep due to exhaustion. Sasuke sat his nearly limp body on the passenger's seat and leaned the seat backwards to make it more comfortable. He made sure the jacket covering his angel was buttoned before gently buckling the seatbelt, trying to not disturb Naruto. Then he quietly shut the door.

Once the door was shut, Sasuke strode quickly around the car to the driver's seat. He buckled himself in quietly but quickly. Then, Sasuke turned on the car. Before driving, Sasuke reached over and pressed a couple of buttons so that the passenger's seat would start to heat up. The car was not particularly cold, but he wanted his angel to be as comfortable as he could be.

Sasuke made sure to drive the speed limit. He wanted to go faster, but was hesitant to press on the gas pedal and make the engine make loud noises that could possibly bother his angel while he was falling asleep.

He glanced to the side and smiled when he saw Naruto resting. His angel's face was by far more peaceful now than it was a mere hour ago.

Even though Sasuke loved his angel's sleeping face almost as much as he loved his angel's smile, the sight was marred by dried blood on his angel's cheeks. The smile morphed into a frown when he remembered where the blood came from.

The drive home did not take long in Sasuke's opinion. It was certainly shorter than the anxiety-filled drive to the bastard's house. THAT drive probably knocked a few years from Sasuke's lifetime due to all of the stress involved.

When they reached the apartment building, Sasuke did not bother to go to the parking garage but merely parked in front of the building. He got out of the car, opening and closing the door quietly, and walked to the passenger's side, opening the door just as quietly.

He gently unbuckled the seatbelt and picked up his angel bridal style once more. He closed the door with his hip and walked around the car once more, heading towards the automatic doors to go inside the building.

When he was inside the lobby, Sasuke walked straight to the attendant's desk—a first for him. He honestly had no idea his building even had one, but it made sense considering how high class it was and how much it cost to live there.

Reaching the desk, he quickly silenced the man about to greet him with a light glare. He then ordered that his car be parked and placed the keys on the desk. Sasuke walked away after his order, knowing that it would be followed.

He took the elevator up to his penthouse. When the doors opened, Sasuke took his angel to his bathroom and sat him on the countertop. He grabbed a towel and ran it under warm water before taking it to his angel's cheeks to wipe away the blood.

Naruto scrunched his face a little, waking up. Blue eyes opened wearily and he whispered, "Sasuke?"

"I'm here." Sasuke immediately whispered back, "I'm just treating your wounds."

Naruto weakly nodded and feebly moved himself to a more comfortable position; every movement sluggish and showing his obvious exhaustion.

Sasuke went to the small closet inside the spacious bathroom that held the towels and extra hygienic supplied and took out the first aid kit. He took out the rubbing alcohol and bandages so he could properly treat the cuts the bastard had scarred his angel's face with.

Naruto flinched when the rubbing alcohol touched his wounds. Sasuke whispered apologies, but regretfully continued so the wounds would not be infected. He ran the towel doused in rubbing alcohol over the cuts as gently and quickly as he could. Once the disinfecting was over with, Sasuke carefully bandaged his angel's cheeks.

After the bandages were placed, Sasuke picked up his angel once more and carried him outside. He intended to go to Naruto's room when Naruto whispered, "Can…can I sleep i-in your room?"

Sasuke looked down to face his angel, but Naruto's bangs were hiding his eyes. There was a slight blush visible around the bandages and Naruto was biting his lower lip.

Sasuke leaned down and whispered, "Of course" into Naruto's hair, placing another soft kiss atop his head.

He saw a small smile adorn his angel's lips and headed towards his own room. Before he placed Naruto on the bed, he pulled the covers down to make tucking him in later easier. Then Sasuke headed towards his drawers to get his angel some proper pajamas. He would have liked to go to Naruto's room to get Naruto his own pajamas, but he knew his angel would not like being left in a room alone.

He chose an old white undershirt and a pair of sweatpants he had bought for the gym. He tried to choose clothes that resembled the ones Naruto would usually wear; T-shirts and sweatpants. While he was near his drawers, he chose silk pajamas for himself so he would not have to leave his angel again later when he would need to change himself.

Naruto was almost asleep; his eyes halfway closed and blearily unfocused. Sasuke sat him up and whispered in his ear, "I'm about to change you into a pair of pajamas then will tuck you into bed so we can sleep."

Naruto gave a very small nod; that was probably all he could handle in his exhausted state.

Sasuke unbuttoned the jacket and placed it next to his silk pajamas at the end of the bed. Then he grabbed the undershirt and smoothly pulled one arm through the sleeve hole and the other, afterwards popping a blonde head through the shirt and pulling it over his angel's torso. He laid his angel on the bed, grabbing the pants before helping Naruto step his feet through the pants legs, pulling them up. Sasuke gently lifted his angel's back so the pants could be put on properly. He made sure to tie the large pants so they would not fall off during the night.

Even though his angel looked mouthwateringly adorable in Sasuke's overlarge pajamas, Sasuke would not allow himself any of those thoughts.

Not tonight.

Not after everything that had happened tonight. He made sure to focus entirely on his task and trained his eyes on the clothes rather than the body when he was dressing his angel.

Once his angel was dressed, Sasuke maneuvered Naruto's body so it was no longer parallel to the headboard but rather perpendicular to it. He then grabbed the covers he had previously pulled down to the edge of the bed up to tuck his angel in for the night.

Sasuke placed a kiss on his angel's forehead and walked over to the other side of the bed. He grabbed the silk pajamas he had placed at the edge of the bed earlier. He knelt down on the ground, keeping his head in Naruto's field of blurry vision but hiding the rest of his body while he changed. He figured that his angel would not need to see another man's naked body after what had happened tonight.

After he had changed, Sasuke straightened up and walked to the head of the bed. He pulled down the covers enough to slip underneath them.

He did not bother to turn off the lights. He had learnt that after Naruto's nightmares, his angel did not appreciate the darkness in the slightest. Sasuke would not force his angel to deal with that after he had been through a living nightmare because of his own distaste for sleeping with lights on.

Once he had settled in the bed, Sasuke was surprised to feel Naruto shuffling his body towards him; arms reaching out to him.

Sasuke got over the shock quickly and understood what his angel wanted.

He slid an arm underneath his angel's torso and pulled him into a protective embrace, smiling slightly when he felt Naruto nuzzle himself into a more comfortable position for them both.

When Naruto stopped moving, Sasuke felt his angel's body completely relax. Naruto hadn't relaxed his body once since being captured, so Sasuke's smile widened when he felt Naruto give a relieved sigh.

Sasuke tightened the embrace, resting his chin on top of Naruto's head.

His angel was finally safe in his arms, where he belonged.

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><p><strong>And that was the chapter.<strong>

**Man, my insomnia has been extra bitchy this week! I don't know why; I haven't been feeling particularly stressed to my conscious knowledge. It's very annoying. Usually I can't fall asleep until like 2ish-3ish, but this week it's been 4ish-5ish! And it takes me 1 ½ hours at LEAST to fall asleep so that's been kicking my ass. I went to the campus councilor, but since my insomnia is genetic there's not much we can do about it. Sigh. I kinda wanna skip my 9:10 class tomorrow in favor of sleeping. Wanna know something bad? It's 3ish now and I'm not tired at all even though I've gotten less than 7 hours of collective sleep in the past 48 hours. Grrrrrr! Why can't I sleep normally?**

**Ok, that was my personal rant. Fellow insomniacs would understand.**

**Anyhoo, thank you for the fave/alerts/REVIEWS! Sorry on behalf of my inner muse! She hasn't been helpful for this story and wrote like 3 first chapters instead…well, MOST of them. She'd switch between them until I forced her to write this one.**

**Maybe a review would remind her that she can't flit away like that?**


	16. Safe

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

**Yeaaaaaa it's been awhile; but I have excuses! First it was finals, then it was a first job, then it was being let go of said first job due to overhiring, then it was mini depression due to hopes being crushed, THEN it was writing another chapter of _Forgotten Love_. And now it is writing this chapter without any notes or outline. That seems to have disappeared on me.**

**Don't get me wrong, I can write a bitchin' chapter/paper without the help of notes and outline (See chapters 1-4 of this story and 1-3 of _The Ultimate Weapon_ plus every other story save for _Forgotten Love_) but it really helps me keep focus when I know what I wanna write. So this is Sunday, and let's see how long it takes to write Chapter 16!**

**Onwards with the chapter!**

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><p><em>Sasuke had slammed on the brakes of his car as soon as he was in front of the large house he knew belonged to that fucking bastard of a son of a bitch Orochimaru; the one and only 'First Master' as Sasuke now knew based on how this fucking bastard of a son of a bitch perfectly matched his dear sweet, adorable angel's hesitant description of the source of his nightmares.<em>

_The Uchiha did not bother turning off the car. He just switched the car to park and slammed open the door, ripping off his seatbelt. Then we wasted no time in bolting away from his car towards the house._

_When he reached the door, he grabbed the doorknobs and attempted to open them, but they were locked. The bastard fucking locked his door! No matter though, as Sasuke backed away and slammed into the door with all his strength._

_When the doors did not even budge, Sasuke growled in frustration. Who did these doors think they were? Sasuke's angel was somewhere in this house—he just knew it, as if a lover's instinct—and these doors were in the way! Sasuke stepped back several feet. He was planning on using the extra momentum to add to his strength and force the doors open._

_He was so focused on cursing the doors and planning on how to open them that he did not hear the Uchiha Corp surveillance van parking behind his car._

_Sasuke ran forwards, aiming his shoulder so that it would hit in between the two damned doors that were blocking him out so that the added pressure on the piece of metal joining the two doors together between the locked doorknobs would make it snap and thus open them! He hit the solid wood with all the strength he had, but it was in vain. The doors might as well have been made of metal or something to that degree because they would not open._

_That did not deter Sasuke in the slightest, though. He ran back a few feet further than his original mark so that he could add even more momentum to his efforts. His shoulder was throbbing; he could feel the blood flowing to the bruised muscles. His arm screamed in protest as he positioned his shoulder to hit the doors again; every movement he made with the shoulder was laced with pain._

_But he paid no attention to the pain. He could barely feel it as adrenaline pumped through his system, silencing everything around him but his own heartbeat and harsh breathing. His angel needed him. His angel was probably paralyzed with fear and being taken advantage of at this very moment! Sasuke needed to get to his angel, and he needed to get to his angel NOW!_

_Sasuke was about to run forwards to the door when he felt a firm hand squeeze his shoulder._

_Turning to face backwards, he saw Kakashi's masked face staring intently at those damned doors._

_Sasuke thought that Kakashi was going to join the effort in breaking those shitty splinters of wood regret ever coming between Sasuke and his angel through means of a wood chipper and a bon fire, but Kakashi patted his shoulder and began power walking towards those fucking abominations of wood while carrying something in his hand._

_The Uchiha fallowed after Kakashi, wondering what the masked, silver haired man would do to those doors. When Kakashi reached the doors, he knelt down in front of them and pulled out his old tools to pick the lock._

_Sasuke mentally cursed himself for not thinking of that first. Of course it would be more efficient to pick the lock instead of injuring a shoulder which was steadily throbbing. Normally, Sasuke would have chosen the most efficient way to handle things instead of the most physically active and rash thing to do; but dammit this was no normal circumstance! Sasuke's angel was in this house and he needed Sasuke NOW! He did not have time to be calm and rational! He needed to be in that house an hour ago!_

_There was a barely audible *click*, but it was what Sasuke was listening for so he caught it. Snapping his head in Kakashi's direction, his assumption that those damned doors ere unlocked were confirmed when he saw Kakashi stand up. The masked man then opened the doors for Sasuke who rushed through, calling back that Kakashi should wait in the van with Shino while his bodyguards follow Sasuke inside._

_The plan was to get inside the house because that is where his angel is; but now he had little to no idea where to look next. He was standing near the entrance of an extravagant foyer, a modern and sleek design with very little decoration or furniture. If anything, the emphasis was on the hallways which were all identical and had many lights designed as old fashioned torches. The only decorations were a few scenery pictures and some paintings of the bastard himself, probably to fulfill his vanity._

_Sasuke was practically pacing around in circles; but Uchihas do not pace. They walk briskly from point to point, these points just happened to fall into a repeated pattern._

_He could not figure out which hallway to go down to find his angel. The hallways looked identical so it was perceivably easy to get lost in them if one did not know the way. Sasuke doubted he would but he did not want to risk the chance that he went down the wrong hallway and got lost trying to find the right one._

_He heard two pairs of footsteps behind him, the hurried pace indicated that it was his two bodyguards. He turned around with a blank look on his face to show that he did not know where to go without the humiliation of having to say it aloud._

_Luckily, TenTen seemed to have something to say, "His transmitter was broken sometime during the drive here. But before it did, Shino commented that it was a few feet below sea level than we were so he supposed that means that Naruto is being held in a basement or something like that."_

_Now there was a new plan. Plans were good. Plans were organized. Plans kept things in order. The order was to follow out the plan, because that's what plans were for; keeping people from freaking out._

_Currently, the plan was to find the basement, because that meant that they had found Sasuke's angel!_

_Lee took one hallway while TenTen and Sasuke took another. Sasuke would have preferred that they each take their own hallway, but TenTen and Lee had efficient ways of communicating to each other without shouting so he kept his opinion to himself._

_After what seemed like hours—in reality less than a quarter of an hour—they found what seemed to be the basement; it was some stairs leading downstairs. They called Lee to join them before the descended them and the green loving man came within the minute; he was always the faster of the two bodyguards. Sasuke was sure that he had finally found his angel, but all they found was a laundry room that doubled as an extra cleaning supply closet._

_Disappointed but not deterred, they resumed the search. Having searched all the doors in the hallway, they had moved onto searching the doorways in individual rooms. They were somewhat lucky that the majority of the rooms on the first floor were large; therefore the first floor favored quality over quantity so there were not many rooms to search._

_They were in the last room on the first floor—a study of sorts—but they were not having any luck. There were two doors; one for storage space for extra office supplies and another for coats. Taking his pent up frustration out on those godforsaken coats, Sasuke threw them all to the side. When that was not enough, he punched the back wall of the closet._

_As soon as his fist connected with the wall, Sasuke's head shot up. The wall was hollow! He could feel the 'wall' shake a little from his fist!_

_Sasuke motioned for Lee and TenTen so that they would know to follow him as he went down the stairs as soon as he removed the 'wall' blocking his way. He had Lee help him with that as the 'wall' was actually very easy to remove once it was realized what it was. Pulling it to the side, TenTen pointed out that the other side of the 'wall' was covered with sound-proofing material._

_As soon as that particular piece of information was pointed out, Sasuke heard muffled shouting._

_NARUTO!_

_Sasuke ran down the stairs and practically slammed into the door, kicking it open so that it made a large noise as it opened._

_He had ran in along with his bodyguards who took care of any threats close to the door, but his attention was not focused on them but rather a large bed at the other end of the room._

_Sasuke saw that fucking bastard of a son of a bitch holding HIS angel with his sickening pale hands! He had HIS angel's ass in the air! Aligning that filthy, disgusting organ with HIS angel! About to—_

Sasuke awoke with a gasp, his heartbeat racing, and his body covered in sweat.

His dark eyes darted every which way to try to analyze his surroundings; scanning to see which room he was in. He saw his light on, his closet open; a few drawers of his bureau were opened, himself looking back at his bewildered image, and his angel lying on top of him.

Seeing all of this calmed Sasuke immensely; he was home and his angel was safe in his arms.

Sasuke had no memory of ever being as terrified as he had been last night. Not when his father had scolded him as a child, not when his brother had used the cold Uchiha Mask on him, not when he had accidentally overheard his father discussing with his mother the nature of some threats made to their lives, not when threats were made to his own life after being made owner, president, and CEO of Uchiha Corp, and not even when he had been told that his family had died from a drunk driving accident.

Images of what position he had found Naruto in and his angel's terrified face during the rescue plagued and lingered in Sasuke's mind. His already harsh breathing started to rapidly increase as 'what if's started to enter his mind. He needed to get those images and thoughts out of his head.

To get better things in his mind, Sasuke focused all of his attention towards Naruto; his safe, sleeping angel.

Naruto was lying on top of Sasuke. His tanned arms were curled up on either side of him, his fists resting on Sasuke's shoulder blades. His legs had intertwined with Sasuke's as if making sure the older man could not escape giving him comfort. His comparatively smaller body was swimming in Sasuke's larger clothes; the T-shirt was more than halfway up to Naruto's elbows, the collar was wide enough to expose a large portion of Naruto's shoulder, but his toes were completely covered as the large sweatpants went past his feet my several inches. The young man seemed so tiny and fragile in Sasuke's arms, not that Sasuke could blame him after what Naruto had been through tonight.

There was a small frown on Naruto's face as he slept, though it was slightly obscured by the large bandages on the angel's marred cheeks. This frown, Sasuke knew, was not from anger or frustration, but rather because Naruto was in the beginning stages of a nightmare.

True enough, a small whimper escaped Naruto's lips and is eyebrows hunched together as if to block something painful out. The whimper was followed by another, along with a frightened but muffled, "No."

Sasuke's own eyebrows furrowed at the small, cracked whisper. He felt conflicted; should he wake Naruto up and comfort him? That might stage off a probable nightmare but it could frighten Naruto even more. He did not want the frightened blonde to be roughly awakened into an unknown place, wrapped in a mystery man's arms. Sasuke knew exactly how disoriented his traumatized angel was when he woke up and thus knew that unless Naruto woke naturally, then he would automatically assume that he was still in the place of his nightmares.

Frightened whispered startled Sasuke out of his reverie, "No, please don't! Stop! Stop! _PLEASE_!" Naruto's voice was so broken; both from the sheer fear it held and because his voice was a little raspy and cracked.

The frightened whimpers nearly broke Sasuke's heart. He needed to wake his angel; the current reality would never be as frightening as poor Naruto's traumatic nightmares.

Keeping one arm wrapped around Naruto's back, bracing the smaller, curled arms against his silk covered torso, Sasuke raised the other arm to shake the blonde's shoulder.

"Naruto," Sasuke called in loud but gentle voice, "You need to wake up. You're having a nightmare. It's not real."

Desperate cries for help then filled the room as soon as Sasuke began rubbing Naruto's shoulder, "NO! NO! DON'T TOUCH ME! _PLEASE_! I'll-I'll do anything you want, just stop! STOP!"

"Naruto!" Sasuke shook the blonde's shoulder a little harder. He was worried; none of Naruto's previous nightmares were as bad as this one.

"SASUKE! SASUKE! HELP!" Naruto cried out, scrunching his face—clenching his eyes—and tensing his body as if trying to fight consciousness and the horrors it could unleash.

"I'm here, Naruto." Sasuke assured. He hated himself for it, but he roughly jerked Naruto from side to side with both hands, desperate for the other to wake up.

With a startled gasp, Naruto's eyes snapped open. His breathe quickened and he instantly began to struggle against the arms that held him down. Tears cascaded down his the side of his face through his clenched eyes as his head was on its side and he could not get up despite his struggles.

"Shhhhhh, Naruto, shhhhhh. It's okay, it's alright. Sasuke's here. You're safe now. It's okay. Shhhhhhh. Shhhhhhhh. I'm here. I'm here. Shhhhh." Sasuke comforted in a gentle tone, rubbing Naruto's back with one hand while holding him down by the shoulders with the other.

It took more than several minutes of holding the blonde against him while repeating the mantra of comforting words to calm Naruto from crying out for help and desperately trying to break free from his nightmarish captors. Every time Naruto screamed for help, it almost broke Sasuke's heart.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, Naruto's frantic sobs sank to exhausted, subdued tears.

"S-Sa-S-Sasuke?" Naruto managed to whimper, attempting to lift his head to see who was holding him.

"Yes, Naruto, it's me." Sasuke assumed, kissing the top of the blonde's head.

Naruto gave a cry of relief and uncurled his arms enough to grasp a firm hold onto the older man. Then, without much warning, he began to cry once more.

Instead of crying out of fear, these tears seemed to have been born from a great sadness, or relief, or both.

"N-Naruto?" Sasuke asked, staring at the shaking blond hair due to the intensity of the sobs the younger man was crying.

"I thought—I thought," Naruto began, before a new wave of sobs engulfed him, as he repositioned his face so that he could bury it in the comforts of Sasuke's chest.

"Shhhh, it's okay. You don't have to talk about it." Sasuke promised; rubbing the other's back for comfort, but Naruto only shook his head against Sasuke's silk pajamas.

"He-he-he-he m-made m-m-me…oh gawd!" Naruto removed his arms from Sasuke to place them over his head to physically block out the memories.

"What did he make you do?" Sasuke asked, realizing that Naruto felt the need to tell Sasuke what happened. On one hand, Sasuke wanted to know since it was all he was wondering about during the car ride to the fucking bastard of a son of a bitch's house, but on the other hand Sasuke did not want to know because he would not be able to personally extract revenge since Orochimaru had already been arrested.

At the question, Naruto began to tremble. Sasuke regretted asking him, but when he was about to tell the other that he needn't say a word, Naruto suddenly spasmed.

"What's wrong?" Sasuke asked quickly, removing the arm from Naruto's shoulders so he could use it to prop them both up into a vague sitting position.

As soon as Sasuke's arm left him, Naruto bolted up and placed one of his hands above his mouth with his eyes wet with tears.

Sasuke was about to pull the other into a comforting embrace when Naruto when the other bolted off the bed.

Naruto ran a few steps away from the bed before he fell in a heap on the floor.

"Naruto!" Sasuke shouted in concern. In an instant, he was by Naruto's side, helping him into a sitting position. "What's wrong?" he asked again, in a gentle tone, rubbing one arm while he used his other hand to attempt to lean Naruto against his own chest.

But Naruto shook his head and tried to stand up again, only to have Sasuke hold him down by placing both hands on his shoulders.

"Did I scare you?" Sasuke asked, concerned that Naruto was still somewhere between reality and his nightmares.

With his hand still covering his mouth, Naruto made another attempt to stand up.

It was not until Naruto heaved a little did Sasuke understand.

He let go of Naruto, who immediately stood up and resumed rushing towards the bathroom.

Less than a minute after Naruto disappeared into the spacious bathroom, the obvious sounds of vomit could be heard. Sasuke then stood up and walked towards the bathroom himself.

Upon entering, he saw his angel heaving, from efforts both from emptying the contents of his stomach and from his continuous sobs.

Sasuke went to the small closet inside the bathroom and grabbed two towels. Then he went over to the sink and filled a cup of water before making his way over to the toilet and his angel.

He sat down besides his angel and offered him one of the towels and the cup of water. When Naruto accepted the towel to wipe his face, Sasuke reached over and flushed the toilet. After that, Naruto took a sip of water before swishing it in his mouth and spitting it into the toilet before taking another sip of the water to drink. During this, Sasuke began rubbing Naruto's back.

Naruto then took a big breath and continued, "He m-m-made me g-g-give a b-b-blow—" he couldn't continue on account of having to empty the contents of his stomach again; but he didn't have to finish the sentence.

Sasuke's expression darkened as he heard the frightened, small voice his angel was speaking with when he tried to describe what that fucking bastard of a son of a bitch did to him.

Not wanting his angel to think that he was disappointed or angry with _him_, Sasuke quickly schooled his features into something more presentable; what he hoped was a gentle, caring expression.

"It's okay, I understand. He was threatening you, right?" Sasuke whispered in a soft voice as he offered the towel and cup of water once more.

Naruto nodded after he accepted and used both items, "He-he s-said that h-he'd c-c-cut off-ff S-S—S-Suigetsu's l-limbs-s a-a-and f-f-feed th-them to M-Manta." Naruto then erupted into another spout of tears cascading down his cheeks and falling down on the floor as he wrapped his arms around himself as a source of comfort.

Sasuke scooted on the tiled bathroom floors until he was behind his angel and wrapped his arms gently around the other, "Shhhhh, it's not your fault. It's that bastard, Orochimaru's, fault. You did nothing wrong and you have every right to be upset. It's okay now, your safe." He whispered into blond hair as he rocked the both of them gently from side to side.

Naruto took deep breathes and hiccupped a few times before shakily asking, "Orochimaru?" his voice filled with innocent confusion.

Sasuke reminded himself that Naruto most likely had no idea that 'Orochimaru' was 'First Master's' real name. He secured his arms around his angel tighter as he whispered, "That's First Master's real name."

As expected, at the mention on First Master, Naruto whimpered in fear and tried to bury himself against Sasuke's chest while simultaneously curling into a sitting fetal position.

Sasuke allowed this and resumed rocking them both back and forth in a soothing tempo, all the while alternating between small kisses atop Naruto's head and whispering words of comfort. It took a while for the renewed sobs of fear to calm down into heavy breathing with only a small stream of tears falling from Naruto's eyes.

Sasuke did not want to, but he knew that he had to ask the question. Taking a deep breath, Sasuke asked in a firm but gentle tone, "Did that bastard penetrate you?"

He expected another bout of terrified sobs, or for Naruto to reach for the toilet once more. But Naruto surprised him by simply numbly shaking his head and leaning further against Sasuke, gripping the other man's arms tighter.

Sasuke gave a small smile at this. Partially because of the information he just received and partially because his angel's actions meant that Sasuke had truly become a source of comfort to the frightened blonde.

The two sat in front of the toilet in the bathroom for quite some time; Naruto finding comfort in the how easy it was to focus on Sasuke's even heartbeat and breathing rather than the horrors fresh in his memory and Sasuke enjoying simply being near his angel.

After Naruto's own breathing had slowed to a normal pace, Sasuke whispered, "Shall we return to the bedroom?" the soft suggestion was asked with such warmth that Naruto understood that Sasuke would understand if he was not ready to move yet. But at the moment, his butt was getting pretty cold from the freezing tiles, despite the warmth Sasuke offered from behind.

Naruto slowly nodded his head in consent. Sasuke then whispered that he could carry Naruto to the bed, but he refused and began uncurling himself so he could stand up.

Slightly disappointed, Sasuke made himself busy by collecting the items around him. He flushed the toilet once more then tossed the towel Naruto used to wipe his face onto the countertop. Standing up alongside his angel, Sasuke grabbed the other towel and flung it over his shoulder and made his way to the sink to empty out the rest of the cup of water. Then, he grabbed an extra waste basket and followed his angel out of the bathroom, turning off the light behind him.

Sasuke was surprised to see that Naruto was already climbing underneath the covers by the time Sasuke had left the bathroom. He knew that Naruto still needed the light, Sasuke simply made his way towards the bed to climb in as well.

As soon as he rearranged the covers over himself, Naruto reached over and grasped his arm. Understanding right away, Sasuke turned to the side and opened both of his arms.

Naruto scooted over underneath the covers and gratefully nestled himself against Sasuke, who wormed one arm underneath the smeller man's torso so he could comfortably wrap his arms around Naruto.

Naruto rested his head against Sasuke's chest and intertwined one of his legs with Sasuke's legs. He gave a relieved sigh after both had settled into a comfortable position; this was the first time he felt truly safe since waking up from his nightmare.

Turning upwards to look at Sasuke's own face, Naruto asked, "W-will you s-still be here when I wake up?"

Understanding the simple desire for protection in the question, Sasuke smiled as he met Naruto's eyes filled with trepidation at the thought of being left alone while sleeping and kissed his forehead before whispering with finality, "I would never dream of it."

Satisfied that Sasuke would make sure that none of the bad guys would take him while he slept, Naruto tiredly nodded while failing to suppress a yawn. Then he rested his head comfortably against Sasuke's chest as he fell into a dreamless slumber. Finally overcome with the knowledge that he was safe.

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><p><strong>And that was the chapter.<strong>

**I am slightly unhappy with this chapter. While writing this chapter, I wanted to skip past all of this because my inner muse has so many better ideas for _next_ chapter, but damn it all I knew that it was important to show how Naruto would react to his nightmares from the recent trauma rather than skip all that to what is going to happen next chapter.**

**Because I don't really like this chapter, I felt like I did not write it as well, and that is sad because I really try to make an effort to write the bridging informational chapters just as well as the ones I like with the fluffiness or progressing plotline. So lemme know if it really is as bad as it is in my mind so I'll know if I did achieve my goal of not making it noticibly sucky.**

**Anyway, thank you so much to those who favorite/alert! I know it has been awhile and I apologize deeply for that, but my reasons are posted in the beginning A/N.**

**But despite the time spent away, I keep getting e-mails saying that so-and-so had favorite my story, and while I'm giddy as hell and cursing my inner muse for not making this chapter easier to write, I am also wondering how they learned of my stories when I hadn't posted in awhile O.0 My innate fear of creepers makes me think more about it than I should, but since this is a near-anonymous website where people dunno my real name(s), I am mostly flattered.**

**And an extra supermegafoxyawesomehot thank you to those who review! You make my muse give writing worth a damn and make me all giddy and smiley on the inside =) I lurvs you lot and promise to be more productive now that I am out of classes.**


	17. Subdued

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto nor would I want to. It's an amazing story that I could never come up with. So thank you, Masashi Kishimoto, for creating and owning Naruto.**

**In the last story I updated, Sasuke is an ass. So to make it up to myself, I'm updating a story where he is a sweetheart. This is the second sweetest Sasuke in my stories and I would have written for the Sasuke in _Forgotten Love_, but that Sasuke is going through a little of a hard time and this story is more popular. Plus, I promised you guys I'd try to update sooner. *Shrugs* I try to, but writing these chapters takes a long time that I sometimes don't have.**

**But anyways, Onward with the chapter!**

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><p>Sasuke was pinned onto the bed. He could not move his limbs more than a couple of inches to each side; his torso unable to move at all.<p>

It was starting to get uncomfortable. Sasuke's limbs ached to move, it was passed 11:00AM and his body was not used to staying in bed for so long. His limbs longed for unrestrained movement, but could not in their current condition.

But Sasuke did not mind. He would gladly stay captive in his bed for days on end if he had to. That was because his unknowing captor was his angel who was currently _finally_ sleeping peacefully.

He knew that this time tonight, his angel was sleeping peacefully and not suffering from a nightmarish memory or a plain nightmare because there was no sporadic twitching, frightened whimpers, or desperate whispers for the nightmares to just _stop_. No, there was only an exhausted expression on his angel's scarred face. Not that Sasuke could blame him; Naruto had woken up constantly by his nightmares and had not gotten much badly needed sleep since coming home.

Currently, Sasuke was pinned onto his bed by his angel. Naruto was lying on top of Sasuke with his own limbs intertwined with Sasuke's aching limbs. Every so often, Naruto would move a little of his own accord, but Sasuke was unable to move more than a couple of inches lest he disturb his angel.

The last time he tried moving was to reach for his phone on his bedside table that was thankfully in reach—Naruto had refused to go near the center of the bed—but even that had disturbed his angel. Once he felt the arm moving, Naruto had let out an exhausted groan and had started move to find a more comfortable, stable position and almost kneed Sasuke between the legs.

Thankfully, that area had gotten out of the situation without harm. For that, Sasuke was glad because he was not entirely sure that the price he would have paid would have been worth getting his phone.

He had used his phone to text Shikamaru that he would not make it in for work today. He did not say that it was so that he could be with his angel when he wakes up and to help him in any way he can during the day because it was implied. Shikamaru obviously understood the unsaid implication because he had replied, '_Troublesome. Make sure Naruto feels safe.'_ After that, he sent a quick text to Hinata letting her know that he would not be coming to work until further notice.

Sasuke made sure to keep his phone on silent since he was not sure what noise level would disturb his angel in his sleep. Usually, his angel was a deep sleeper, able to block out just about any noise level below a person shouting. But now Naruto was restless and on edge; he had too much residual adrenaline coursing through his system and not enough melatonin. Sasuke had little doubt that even the noise from his phone vibrating would awaken his precious angel.

The Uchiha was waiting for his angel to wake up naturally and was doing everything in his power to make sure that would happen. He knew that Naruto always automatically assumed that he had been taken to his nightmares if he was jarred awake by someone else. Alarm clocks and simple knocks on the door—from a very reasonable distance—were fine with his angel; they made him disoriented in the mornings but very rarely terrified the blonde. Naruto could not handle being woken up by another person yet. He was on his way to being able to be awoken—gently—by Sasuke, but all of that flew out of the window during the weekend.

Sasuke wondered during his entrapment just how much progress flew out of the window this weekend. He dearly hoped that Naruto would not lock himself up in his room for almost a month like in the beginning. Then, it had been bearable because while he uncharacteristically fell in love at first sight—he was man enough to admit it—he did not know Naruto very well. But now that Sasuke had spent his days side by side with his angel, he did not know if he could be able to endure a prolonged solitary recovery.

Naruto shifted a little in his sleep; the frown on his face growing ever so slightly. Sasuke held his breath as his adorable captor above him moved. Suddenly, Naruto's arm flailed out to the side, almost as if it had smasmed.

Slightly worried, Sasuke raised his own arm a little to see if he needed to wake Naruto from another dream or if he needed to—lightly—hold down the smasming arm.

As soon as Sasuke's arm was raised, Naruto's own arm flew towards it and pinned it down.

Confused, Sasuke looked down to see his angel's face to check whether or not Naruto had pinned his arm down out of reflex or because he believed that Sasuke's arm was one of his Masters attacking him.

Sasuke was surprised to see that the frown had returned to its previous small size. Maybe that was because Sasuke—playing the part as Naruto's bed—was still once more, maybe it was because Naruto had apprehended the 'attacking' limb, or maybe it was because he had anchored Sasuke to himself.

Wanting to see the reason for the sudden flailing limbs, Sasuke hesitantly grasped Naruto's hand in a light grip and was readying himself for abruptly letting go if there was any change in Naruto's expression.

There _was_ a change in expression, but not the one Sasuke was expecting. Instead if signs of discomfort or fear, Naruto's frown completely disappeared! His expression was simply exhausted with no frown present during his slumber.

Smiling to himself, Sasuke intertwined his fingers with Naruto's; ecstatic beyond words that his angel was not rejecting him.

The two stayed like that for a couple of minutes, Naruto sleeping on top of Sasuke and Sasuke simply joying being close with his angel.

Their perfect moment was ruined when Sasuke heard loud talking—somewhat muffled by his door—somewhere in the apartment. Sasuke was not afraid whoever was in his apartment. The building was highly credited for its security and when he moved in he had installed Uchiha Corp security measures; security cameras, alarms, and a keypad as well as old fashioned keys. Whoever was in the apartment was given previous permission and was not a threat to his safety or as a thief so he was very much unafraid.

What he was, though, was mostly annoyed to dangerous levels that two people—a man and a woman judging by the pitches of the muffled voices—would be talking so loudly let alone being in his apartment when they clearly _knew_ what had happened to Naruto last night!

Then Sasuke inwardly groaned. He had told Shikamaru and Hinata that he would not be going to work but he did not say anything to his driver or the maid.

He did NOT want either of them to disturb his angel, so he reached for his phone with his unoccupied hand. He did so ever so carefully without moving the rest of his body much. He was successful for the most part, but he still moved his shoulder a bit which made Naruto temporarily mar his exhausted expression with a frown.

He then sent a quick text to his driver—the only one of the supposed duo whose number Sasuke has since he had no need to learn the maid's number—a quick message to shut the hell up and to leave.

After turning the phone over so it was faced down so Sasuke did not have to deal with its light and he turned his head slightly so he could get a better look at his angel's expression.

'_Dammit,'_ Sasuke thought as he inwardly grit his teeth. Naruto was once more frowning out of annoyance as well. He was beginning to fidget and even turned his head to face the other direction in an attempt to block out the noise drifting into the room.

Sasuke decided that if these two imbeciles end up waking his angel into another living nightmare, then they would need to find new jobs.

* * *

><p>Kiba was confused.<p>

Usually, he would drive his own motorcycle—that he rebuilt from scratch—or mediocre car to the boss' apartment's garage. Then he would normally go to the boss' self-designated 'spot' and drive to the entrance of the building to boss' second self-designated 'spot'. After that, he would briefly wait for the boss to come to the car and for him to tell him where to go even though he already knew the destination depending on the day of the week; Boss likes to think that his schedule is unpredictably hectic to the outsider and he indulged his boss' fantasies. Then he drove to the destination and drop the boss off. The next thing on his schedule was to grab a quick Starbucks coffee and a cookie as a personal reward for not getting fired.

If he got the privilege to drive the lovely Hinata and the blondie to and from work, then he would adjust his alarm and schedule. But apart from that, he would simply occupy himself in the city, drop by the house real quick to feed and walk his dog, Akumaru, and wait until lunchtime so he could drive back to the apartment and eat lunch with Sakura and Blondie. After that, he'd hang around or drive his own mode of transportation back home until it was time to go back to the apartment, change cars, and drive Boss back to his home.

That was his schedule and he could practically set his watch to it. So Kiba was extremely confused come morning when the ritual was broken.

He had driven his baby to the parking garage like usual and switched to the boss' car. Then he parked in Boss' self-designated 'spot' like he always did and waited.

But instead of waiting seven minutes tops, he was waiting at the entrance to the apartment building for over twenty minutes! Kiba had way too many cars honking like hell at him for waiting too long on such a busy road that he had to find parking nearby, all the while hoping that he could still buy his victory cookie for not getting fired.

Then he waited for over another forty-five minutes! He was over an hour late on his schedule! Kiba looked over his shoulder every thirty seconds or so to check the entrance of the building to see if the boss would walk through. He supposed that he looked like he had developed a tick before completely abandoning sitting straight in the car and simply rested his head on the seat's headrest and had an intense staring contest at those friggin' doors.

When another agonizing thirty minutes—filled with questionable and unhelpful self-pep-talks about his state of employment—Kiba frantically checked his phone repeatedly to see if the boss had sent him an angry message, demanding to know where the fuck he was. There was nothing; Kiba even frantically turned off his phone and turned it on again to make sure it was working. Hell, he even sent himself a lame-ass text message to _himself_ to make sure his phone still worked!

There was no point in calling the boss to confirm what was going on because Boss never gave Kiba his number. Instead, the boss demanded for Kiba's and refused to give his own number because of 'fucking stalking fangirls'. Not that Kiba entirely blamed the guy, some of the women after him would fucking tackle Kiba to the ground if they learned whose number he had in his phone; the understanding sentiment, however, was lost in this particular moment of dreading for his job.

He hadn't gotten any messages or notes informing him about any changes in plans like he did on Friday. Thursday, Boss had informed him that he would only need to drive Boss to work and drive the lovely Hinata to the apartment, pick up Blondie after lunch and leave the car at work. Boss had given him a generous tip for cab fees back to the apartment so he could get his own motorcycle so Kiba hadn't complained. He used the cash left over to buy himself an extra victory cookie.

But there was no message for today. Kiba assumed that today would have been like every other weekday. Maybe he was wrong? Kiba had reviewed his memory to the point where he was questioning if he had remembered to lock the gate to his yard so Akamaru would not wander out on him.

For a moment, Kiba had wondered if the Boss had driven himself to work…then remembered who was currently in the car having an epic staring contest with an apartment building.

Deciding that freaking out may be justified but would not help many things, Kiba turned on the radio—relishing in the simple act since Boss never let him—and pulled out his old iTouch. While he sang along with the radio (like a Boss) while playing Fruit Ninja, all the while shooting glances at the door after each game.

It was getting to be around the time when Kiba would head home to feed and walk Akamaru…but his loyal dog would understand, right? Kiba's JOB depended on him staying here ready to drive his boss to wherever! His source of income! The reason why the two were able to eat _good_ food instead of store brand shit! His best friend would understand. Plus, Akamaru had the entire yard to himself, and Kiba was positive that his dog had buried himself one bigass stash of stolen food. He'd be alright for the day.

Kiba was contemplating how to make it up to his dog after he hopefully successfully kept his job when he was interrupted by a sudden LOUD rapping noise!

Startled, Kiba automatically raised his fists and swung one back as he turned his body in a swift motion to face whatever had made the noise.

"Woah! Down, boy!" Sakura laughed from the other side of the car window. One arm was holding a pink purse to her shoulder as she bent over to level with the car while the other arm was slightly raised, showing that she had just knocked on the car's window.

"What the hell, Sakura?" Kiba shouted indignantly, irritated that he had been so startled by a part-time maid knocking on a car window. He turned off the radio and rolled down the window so the two could speak properly.

"What do you expect? I tried waving, but either your iPod or the door was more interesting than a lovely lady trying to get your fleeting attention. So I had to lightly tap on the window in order to get it." Sakura said to him as she rested her arm on the car door where the window previously was.

'_Light tap my ass.'_ Kiba scoffed to himself, not being in the mood to say it out loud and receive a massive blow to the head. "Right," he said instead, congratulating himself on avoiding said blow, "so you're _lightly tapping_ on the boss' car window, why?"

"Duh!" Sakura exploded, making Kiba's hands fly to protect his sensitive ears; WHY did he used to brag about his super hearing when it was making him suffer so much at the moment was beyond him. "It's so _weird_ seeing Sasuke's car out in the open! I was checking to see if it really was his since there is, like, no WAY it could be, you know? I mean, Sasuke would NEVER just LEAVE his car parked out on the STREET! But lo and behold! I saw you in here. By the way, nice singing, Sir Gaga."

Kiba fought the blush he refused to acknowledge after learning someone actually saw him singing along to 'Poker Face' and scowled, "Well, Boss hasn't shown up yet or let me know about anything so I'm just waiting here until he tell me to go."

"Awwwww, like a good doggie?" Sakura teased in a tone used to praise dogs, laughing at her own little joke.

"Like someone who wants to keep his job." Kiba retorted, resolutely feeling unashamed for doing his best to keep the best job he's ever had.

Whether it was his demeanor or her understanding, Sakura had decided to stop teasing him. Instead, she reached into her purse and grabbed her set of keys and said, "Wanna make sure you still got a job?"

Kiba deliberated for a minute, as crazy as it sounds. But hey, the boss could be a scary man and Kiba was man enough to admit that he did _not_ want to be on the receiving end on the man's fury. And with something as important as his job stability, his adult mind knew that this sort of thing should be considered.

But his immature mind was tired of waiting so he agreed. He told his pink haired co-worker that she needed to move her arm if she didn't want it amputated and rolled the window back up, turned off the radio and turned off the car.

The pair then made their way to the boss' penthouse apartment. When they reached the door, Sakura handed Kiba her purse—making him feel slightly ridiculous holding the pink bag—while she punched in the lock combination on the annoying high-tech auto-lock do-hickey that Kiba did not understand and pulled out her keys again to manually unlock the door.

Once the door was unlocked, Sakura poked her head in. Upon seeing no one, she opened the door wider, and walked in calling out, "Come, Kiba!" as she did so.

"Not without proper stimulation!" Kiba called back, relishing in Sakura's indignant squawk of shock at his automatic response; maybe now she'd lay off the dog jokes.

"You're a pervert!" Sakura accused in a rather loud voice. She had her hand stretched out towards him, silently demanding for her purse back.

"Also known as a man." Kiba agreed in a volume matching hers in an attempt to show the girl just how loud she was being, handing the pink bag back to its owner.

"Whaaaaat? So being a man makes you a pervert?" Sakura called out, obviously not understanding that she was being very loud.

"Obviously!" Kiba replied as designated 'man' representative.

"That's a lie. Not ALL men are perverts like you!" Sakura declared as she went room to room checking for any messes to reorganize.

"Uh, yea we are. Some of us are just _really_ good at hiding it." Kiba informed the maid as she worked.

"Nu-uh! I know a couple of non-perverted guys!" Sakura defended.

"Oh yea, who?" Kiba challenged, ready to declare whoever she named a closet-pervert.

"Sasuke."

Kiba decided that it was best that he did not respond.

Instead, he changed the subject, "Speaking of, do you know where Boss is?"

"No." Sakura called from another room.

"Then why are we even here?" Kiba called to her, making his way towards whatever room she was in. Damn, the penthouse was big.

"I am doing my job. You are hoping to keep yours." Sakura reminded him.

"And how am I doing that by trespassing?" Kiba asked, understandably weary of the Boss' privacy issues.

Sakura sent him a half-incredulous look, "You're not trespassing. You work for Sasuke!"

"As his driver! As in stay-by-the-car! Which I SHOULD be doing!" Kiba halfway shouted, exasperated. He shouldn't have listened to the pink-haired maid. It didn't matter how smart the girl was by excelling in med school; this chick was woefully ignorant of the boss' limited patience.

"Calm down, ya big scaredy cat! We're here to go straight to the source instead of you wasting Sasuke's car battery. And for your nerves, dear god, man! You're wound tighter than my old sorority sisters!" Sakura told him as she confirmed the room's general cleanliness and moved onwards to the next one.

Kiba let the words sink in before realizing something…he and Sakura were just outside by the Boss' car wondering where he was…they both went inside his apartment looking for him…they were now IN the apartment and his Boss was nowhere to be seen; and what was even more disturbing was that BLONDIE was nowhere to be seen!

Sakura must've noticed something was up because she returned to the room Kiba was in and asked, "What's up?"

"I just realized something…" Kiba spoke in a somewhat lower tone, meaning his usual level of loud.

"What?" Sakura asked.

When Kiba sad nothing but rather continued staring out of the door in a daze, Sakura shouted, "WHAT did you realize? I'm not a frickin' mind reader, you know!"

"Where's the Boss?" Kiba asked, still looking outside the open door in his daze, as if he was expecting Boss or Blondie to walk by.

"Huh?" Sakura asked, walking towards him.

"Where's the Boss and Blondie?" Kiba asked, slightly louder to show the importance of the question.

Sakura was momentarily left in a stunned silence, before repeating, "Where ARE they?"

"HOW SHOULD I KNOW? _YOU'RE_ THE ONE WITH THE APARTMENT KEY!" Kiba exploded; his stress levels on high from spending well over a couple of hours on edge worrying about his job stability.

"AND "AND_ YOU'RE_ THE ONE WITH THE CAR KEYS!" Sakura shouted back.

"WHAT DOES THAT HAVE TO DO WITH ANYTHING?"

"WELL WHAT DOES MY HAVING THE APARTMENT KEYS HAVE TO DO WITH ANYTHING?"

The two co-workers spent a moment glaring at each other before being slightly startled by Kiba's phone alerting him to a text message.

Wondering if it was his sister asking for help at her veterinary clinic since she knows his schedule is pretty open—usually—Kiba digs into his pocket so he could reply a negative. He was very surprised to see that it came from a blocked number.

Kiba was going to reject it, thinking it was some sort of scam-text informing him that a Russian prince has gone bankrupt and is giving _him_ all his wealth, local hot singles are begging to hook up with him, or the ever popular male enhancement add, but he automatically checked the message like he would any other text message.

'_Shut the hell up and leave immediately.'_—Blocked Number

Kiba tensed and froze as he read the text message; there was no question as to who sent it.

Noticing Kiba's response, Sakura raised her eyebrows and walked over next to Kiba to read over his shoulder.

"'Blocked number'?" she asked, looking up to face him.

"We have to go." Kiba whispered, trying to follow orders and be as quiet as he could be. Damn his heart for making so much noise! It needed to stop beating so wildly and pounding in his ears! What if the Boss heard it?

"Why?" Sakura ask, incredulously. She asked in a quieter tone than before, but nowhere near as soft as Kiba's whispering.

"SHHHHH!" Kiba hissed, hastily covering her mouth with his hand, looking around them frantically in case his Boss decided to ninja around the corner, come into the room and kick their asses.

"MMph!" Sakura muffled behind his hand, sending him a glare. Then she got an all too familiar gleam in her green eyes that made Kiba jump back in fear for his balls.

"Sorry, sorry! But we HAVE to get out of here!" Kiba urgently whispered, "The message was from the Boss and he wants us gone!"

While not understanding the reason for Kiba's urgency, the naïve girl DID understand the order: shut up and leave. Nodding her understanding, Sakura led the way to the door so the pair could make their way out of the apartment.

Before leaving, Sakura grabbed her purse. Then she waited near the door, looking pointedly at Kiba who sighed. After seeing him open the door for the lovely Hinata, Sakura had insisted that he pay her the same courtesy whenever they leave a room together; claiming something about being a 'proper lady'.

After rolling his eyes—once has back was turned to Sakura—Kiba opened the door and nearly shouted his surprise!

On the other side was Suigetsu!

"What the hell are you doing, man? Trying to give us a fuckin' heart attack?" Kiba demanded in a heated whisper, clutching his heart as a physical sign to how surprised he was.

Suigetsu just stared at him as if he was a crazy person demanding to know if the gerbil army was ready to face the twinkie rebels who teamed up with the dastardly ho-ho mercenaries.

Kiba would have been worried that the usually eccentric man was NOT shouting and demanding to see his self-proclaimed best friend, but the two were busy having a staring contest of sorts, silently demanding to know what the other was doing.

"Omigosh!" Sakura whispered, tip toeing to Suigetsu's side, "What happened to your leg?"

Confused, Kiba directed his attention towards Suigetsu's legs.

He couldn't see anything wrong with them. Sure, he was favoring one over the other, but other than that Kiba couldn't see why Sakura was worried. Maybe it was a med student thing to freak out over a limp. The man probably got it by twisting his ankle or something, nothing to go ballistic over.

Suigetsu seemed uncomfortable with the scrutiny on his legs, "Hey now, who said there's anything wrong?"

Kiba made from frantic gestures to keep quiet, but they were interrupted by Sakura worrying, "Have you gotten your leg properly wrapped? _Please_ don't tell me you did it yourself!"

Seeing that avoidance was useless, Suigetsu sighed and answered, "I got it checked out at the hospital. It's been cleaned and wrapped properly."

Now, Kiba was worried. Not only was Suigetsu being unusually calm, but the man had also gone to the hospital willingly? Suigetsu _hated_ going to the hospital unless being sent there by the Boss' beatings; something about only letting his best friend defeat him. If his injuries were not from the Boss, then Suigetsu would use home-remedies or ask friends to help, but never willingly go to a legit doctor.

Sakura did not look convinced; understandable as she had heard him lie about going to the hospital a few times and had to patch him up herself. "C'mon, on the couch and lemme see that leg." She ordered Suigetsu in a firm whisper, thankfully aware of her volume, and gestured towards the couch.

Suigetsu shrugged and began limping towards said couch.

"Here," Kiba whispered, stepping towards the man and grabbing his arm, pulling it over his shoulders so he could support the limping man on his way to the couch.

Neither man said anything during the somewhat short journey from the door to the couch. Kiba was silent because he obviously feared the wrath of his Boss, but Suigetsu was silent for unknown reasons. Usually, the white haired man would be loudly demanding to see the Boss or rampaging around the apartment in search of something, shouting along the way. Kiba had never seen the man so silent, but wasn't going to ask because he feared he would break the spell and unleash the Boss' wrath upon them.

Once they made it to the couch, Kiba sat Suigetsu down and stood by the edge—closest to the door—on standby. He was used to being Sakura's assistant (glorified dog ordered to fetch things for her) whenever she checked over Blondie's small injuries that he accumulated through clumsiness and recklessness.

After Suigetsu was properly seated, Sakura kneeled on the ground and propped his injured leg up.

She carefully rolled his pants leg up, her green eyes darting rapidly from her task to Suigetsu's face to check his expression and seeing if or when it would hurt.

Suigetsu's expression changed from uninterested into a grimace after the pant leg went above his knee. Making note of that, Sakura whispered, "Should I roll it up slowly or yank it up?"

"Just yank it." Suigetsu told her, in a normal tone of voice for a normal person, though very subdued for his usual self.

"SHHHH!" Kiba hissed frantically, waving his hand for silent attention and pressing his other finger against his lips.

Suigetsu gave him a funny look, as if wondering what drugs he was on. Well, screw him! Kiba wanted to keep his job, dammit! And if that meant looking like an idiot then bring out the funny afro and bigass rubber nose!

"Why are you whispering?" Suigetsu asked in the same sullen volume that while quiet was _not_ as quiet as Kiba's whispering.

It was Sakura who answered in a whisper, "Because Sasuke sent him a text that said 'Shut up and leave immediately'. But as we were about to leave, we saw you at the door and we couldn't leave you injured like this without checking it properly first! So in a compromise, Kiba is making sure we stay quiet."

Kiba expected Suigetsu to laugh at him and shout loudly that he Suigetsu did not have to follow the rules set by the Boss and boat about 'best friend privileges', but Suigetsu did none of that. Instead, he adopted a thoughtful look and asked—thankfully—in a whisper, "So he's here?"

Sakura and Kiba sent each other worried glances, both weary that Suigetsu's stupor would vanish should he learn that the Boss was here.

Sakura whispered as she grasped the hem of his pant leg, "We _think_ so…I mean, Kiba was waiting in Sasuke's car for about a couple of hours, right?" she sent him a questioning glance. When Kiba nodded, she continued, "So we came up here, but we haven't seen him. We only got his text, so he's _probably_ in his bedroom since we haven't checked there. Oh! Do you think he's sick or something?" Sakura sent them both questioning and hopeful glances, eagerly seeing if one of them agreed with her new theory.

Kiba personally agreed; that _would_ explain why he hadn't seen the Boss, though not Blondie.

WAIT!

What if _BLONDIE_ was the one who was sick?

That would _definitely_ explain why he hadn't seen either! The Boss was always paranoidly protective of Blondie and would demand for over-the-top cures for simple scrapes and bruises so it'd TOTALLY make sense that Boss would confine Blondie in bed for a simple cold or whatnot!

Suigetsu, though, did NOT seem to agree…or at least showed no indication of agreeing…or disagreeing…

He just sat in a thoughtful silence with his eyebrows furrowed in concentration. His only snapped back to reality when Sakura whispered, "I'm going to get the rest of the pant leg, alright?"

He nodded his agreement and braced himself so he only winced and hissed in pain as Sakura quickly yanked the pant leg over his wound, which _was_ professionally wrapped.

Sakura immediately began to check the bandages, and then she asked if she could inspect the wound to which Suigetsu declined. But not that it helped him much as she had already began unwrapping the bandages.

Suigetsu sighed and stared off in the direction of the hallway leading to the bedrooms, apparently deep in thought.

"So you think Blondie is sick?" Kiba whispered, feeling a little awkward.

"Naruto?" Sakura whispered back, still focused on her task.

"Well yeah, if the Boss was sick then Blondie would probably be making ramen or something to make him feel better and staying out of his way. But if _Blondie_ was sick then the Boss would go all dictator on him and keep the guy in bed while standing guard or something. It would explain why we haven't seen either of them." Kiba explained in a whisper.

At this, Suigetsu gave Kiba a calculating look, as if he knew something the driver did not. It was frickin' annoying.

"What?" Kiba demanded in a whisper, "You _don't_ think Blondie is sick or somethin'?"

Suigetsu just gave an infuriating shrug and mumbled, "Somethin'," before returning his gaze back to the hallway's direction.

* * *

><p>After sending the text, Sasuke was worriedly staring at his angel's exhausted expression.<p>

He was relatively pleased that the muffles had almost completely disappeared a little after he sent the text; only the muffled shuffles of movement could be heard, and only because Sasuke was listening for it.

With that in mind, Sasuke was hoping that Naruto would fall into a peaceful sleep, but was prepared for Naruto to start shaking the bed in fear.

Naruto surprised Sasuke, though, by yawning. Just yawning. No clutching onto Sasuke—unfortunately. No pushing Sasuke away—thankfully. No trembling, gasping, heaving, whimpering, or crying. Just a yawn.

Sasuke tensed during the yawn. Was his angel waking up? More importantly: _where_ was he waking up to? A living nightmare or in Sasuke's embrace?

After the yawn, Naruto did not move, and neither did Sasuke. He was still tensed; alert. Ready in case Naruto suddenly started to scream out in fear.

Then, Naruto did move.

He shuffled his head on Sasuke's chest so that he was no longer slightly facing up but rather down. Now, Sasuke could only observe the top of Naruto's blond hair instead of observing his expressions.

Sasuke was still tensed, and could feel the strain on his muscles. He slowly, ever so slowly, started to relax his muscles; aware of every movement as he did so.

The Uchiha held his breath as he relaxed each muscle. He was terrified that his moving would wake his angel.

But the crisis was averted…hopefully.

Without being able to see his angel's face anymore, Sasuke could only guess that his angel was still asleep. At least, his angel was not moving other than gently breathing himself, so that meant he was still asleep, right?

Sasuke spent the next few moments inwardly debating that logic when he realized that his angel's breathing was faster than before. Not in an alarming rate, his breathing was still even and calm, but not as slow and spaced out as his breathing when he was asleep.

The dark haired man spent a few moments measuring Naruto's breathing against his own, even quickening his own tempo to see if Naruto would follow; he did. Sasuke tried to rationalize—because he dearly wanted his angel to get some _much_ needed peaceful sleep—that people unconsciously match the breathing rates to someone they are leaning against, but his instincts kept telling him that he was making excuses so he could avoid the truth.

With much trepidation, but making sure none of that reached his steady tone, Sasuke whispered in the smallest of voices, "Naruto?"

Sasuke was hoping that Naruto would not hear him and continue to sleep, but his angel shifted his head a little so Sasuke was once again staring into exhausted and exquisite blue eyes.

Seeing those eyes released wave after wave of pure relief for Sasuke. Not only were his angel's eyes the most beautiful sight in the world—in Sasuke's biased opinion—but there was no fear in them; just an overwhelming sense of exhaustion.

"Do you want to go back to sleep?" Sasuke asked in a gentle tone, one he hoped would help lull his angel back to a much needed rest.

Naruto surprised him once more by wearily shaking his head no and resting his head on Sasuke's chest once more, staring at the curtains hiding the window.

The two stayed in silence—Naruto staring at the curtains and Sasuke staring at Naruto, wondering how his angel was doing—for a few moments that felt like an hour to Sasuke. Finally, he asked in a gentle voice, "Do you want me to open the curtains?"

Naruto immediately shook his head no and dropped his head back onto Sasuke's chest, as if the action of lifting his head enough to shake it physically exhausted him even more.

Sasuke was worried, but more concerned with Naruto's current state of being. He wanted to check his angel's bandages and get food into him. His angel has not had anything to eat since before the kidnapping, and that was way before he emptied all of the contents of his stomach last night.

Slightly hating himself for having to do so, Sasuke gently placed his hand in between his angel's shoulder blades to get Naruto's attention and lightly suggested, "How about something to eat?"

Naruto seemed to think about it for a moment before hesitantly shaking his head in a negative. Giving a slight sigh, Sasuke tried to reason, "You haven't eaten anything in the past twenty-four hours. Your body _needs_ substance."

His angel seemed to be listening, and squirmed uncomfortably, but still shook his head no and repositioned his head so Sasuke could no longer see his expression.

Sasuke tried to think of reasons why his precious angel would deny himself food, but the best he could come up with was a fear that it would only come back up again. Sasuke could understand that to a certain degree, but his sense of priority overcame the understanding.

Gently and deliberately, Sasuke started to move the hand he had on his angel's back in soothing circular motions. He also laced the fingers of the hand that was still clasped with his angel's hand and squeezed them gently.

"I know I am asking a lot from you, and let me know if I can help to in any way, but you need to eat." Sasuke said in a gentle tone. When Naruto did not respond, he leaned down and whispered, "Please," into his angel's blond hair.

Naruto tensed a little after the last whisper, and stayed tense for another moment. Sasuke continuously rubbed soothing circles into Naruto's back, but having no way to gage Naruto's expressions.

Finally, after what seemed like an hour or two wrapped up in three minutes, Naruto hesitantly nodded his head. But although he had just agreed to eat, he made no movement to get up.

Deciding to take the initiative, Sasuke removed his arms from Naruto's grasp—reminding himself that this was for Naruto's own good—and gently lifted his angel off of himself. Then he swung his legs over the side of the bed and got up.

After getting up, Sasuke turned to Naruto—who was numbly staring back at him but making no move to get out of bed—and held out his hand to help his angel out of bed, whose gaze shifted to stare at the hand.

When his angel simply stared at the hand, Sasuke suggested, "Should I carry you to the kitchen?" hoping to incite Naruto's rebellious side; and hiding his want for Naruto to agree. Either way for Sasuke, it was a win-win, though he had a preference for the latter.

Naruto, however, seemed to have a preference for the former and began shuffling around to get out of the bed as well.

Once he was out of bed, Naruto directed his attention towards Sasuke's closet.

Confused, Sasuke asked, "Is there anything you need?"

Naruto ignored him in favor of walking towards the closet. When he reached it, he opened the door and walked in, sending the clothing critical looks.

He returned out of the closet with a sweatshirt in hand; a particularly baggy and brown sweatshirt. Sasuke had completely forgotten about it, it having been a present from his vice president who claimed it was comfortable enough to not care. But the damn thing looked so ugly that Sasuke had just stuffed it in the back of his closet and never gave it a second thought.

Without looking at Sasuke, Naruto pulled the large, distasteful sweatshirt over his head and pulled it to cover his body.

His angel looked simply adorable swimming in Sasuke's larger clothing; he even made the unattractive sweatshirt look cute on him.

Sasuke walked to Naruto and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder asking, "Ready to go to the kitchen?"

Naruto bowed his head and gave a hesitant nod.

Sasuke waited for Naruto to lead the way, but upon seeing that once again Naruto was not going to take that first step, Sasuke deliberately turned slowly to face the door.

Once his back was turned, Sasuke felt a small tug on his back.

Turning his head, he saw blond hair. He gave a gentle smile; his angel was holding onto his shirt with his head still bowed.

Sasuke took a step forwards, and his smile grew as he heard shuffling behind him and felt that his angel's grasp never wavered.

The Uchiha took on a slow and deliberate pace, aware of his angel's footsteps behind him.

When Sasuke reached the door, he made sure to open it wide open so his angel would have absolutely no troubles walking through the doorway after Sasuke.

While walking through the hallway, Sasuke heard hushed whispering and immediately halted; annoyed.

Not expecting the sudden stop, Naruto bumped into Sasuke, who turned giving an apologizing small smile.

Naruto have him a confused look, silently asking why Sasuke stopped so suddenly.

Sasuke inwardly sighed as he tried to think of the best way to word things. If he said '_There are people in the apartment_', then his angel would instantly be plagued by all too real fears of being taken away.

"Mr. Inuzuka and Ms. Haruno were told to leave the apartment upon learning of their presence, but it seems that they have decided to stay long enough to be told in person." Sasuke told his angel, trying very hard to keep the inward scowl off of his face.

Naruto's eyes widened before he quickly bowed his head once more. He hugged his arms around himself, but remarkable did not shake in fear.

Sasuke pulled him into a comforting embrace and notice that his angel was indeed trembling a little.

"Do you want to go back to the room?" Sasuke offered, resting his cheek atop Naruto's head.

Naruto gave no indication as to what he wanted, but at that moment Naruto's stomach growled, as if shouting out for food.

Naruto tucked in his chin in an attempt to lower his face even more, but could not hide his blush.

Sasuke gave a slight chuckle and whispered, "I think your stomach just answered my question."

Naruto nodded his agreement.

Placing a chaste kiss atop Naruto's head, Sasuke whispered, "I'll make sure they don't bother you." Then he let go of Naruto and turned around again. Once more, Sasuke felt a tug on his silk pajama shirt.

When he felt Naruto's hands clasp the shirt, Sasuke resumed his deliberately slow pace.

Before leaving the hallway, Sasuke was surprised to see that the intruders were not only the suspected maid and driver, but Suigetsu as well.

Sasuke slowed into a stop so that this time, Naruto did not bump into him but remained behind him; using Sasuke willingly as a human shield.

"Suigetsu?" Sasuke asked aloud for the benefit of his angel behind him and to get the others' attention.

Suigetsu looked up from apparently being deep in thought and said in a subdued tone, "Hey, Sasuke."

"What are you doing here?" Sasuke asked. He supposed he could have been more dignified or polite, but he just wanted everyone out of the apartment so his angel could eat without fear!

"I, uh," Suigetsu started uncomfortably, looking to the side instead of in Sasuke's direction, "just wanted to check up with Blon—Naruto to uh, to see if he was alright and everything, so uhm…yeah."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, but judging from Suigetsu's demeanor and what he had witnessed during the weekend, Sasuke believed him.

Sasuke looked behind him and saw a blond head staring at his back. In the smallest of whispers, Sasuke asked, "Is Suigetsu okay?" knowing that Naruto understood that the question meant would Naruto be alright with seeing Suigetsu.

Naruto glanced up at Sasuke, before looking back down. He then gave a noncommittal jerk of the shoulder and looked to the side. After a moment, with Sasuke still looking over his shoulder, Naruto gave a weary nod to confirm yes.

"You could ask him yourself." Sasuke answered, stepping aside to reveal his angel from behind him.

Instead of letting himself be fully revealed, Naruto allowed his side to be revealed as well as the top of his head as he clung to Sasuke's arm.

"Hey, Naruto." Suigetsu greeted; his voice soft and slightly hesitant, as if he did not know what else to say to the blonde.

Naruto hesitated, clutching Sasuke's sleeve so hard that his knuckles turned white.

Noticing this, Sasuke placed his hand on the small of Naruto's back and pulled him closer as a physical sign that Sasuke was there for him.

After another minute, Naruto nodded to himself—something only Sasuke noticed—before looking up to face Suigetsu.

When Naruto turned his head to face Suigetsu, two gasps were heard and Sasuke inwardly groaned; he had forgotten about his driver and his maid.

"I thought I had told you two to _leave_." Sasuke threatened, using his free hand to pull Naruto's head against his chest and hide the bandages on his cheeks that had made the other two gasp.

"But—" his maid stuttered, her eyes focused on the back of Naruto's head.

"_Out_." Sasuke ordered in an authoritative tone.

His driver, thankfully, nodded his head immediately and grabbed his maid's wrist and started pulling her up and towards the door.

His maid looked like she was going to comment on his angel's bandages—which Naruto would _not_ appreciate—but was stopped before she could open her mouth by a slight glare by Sasuke.

She let loose a quiet squeak of fear and hurried out of the door, pushing past his driver who had the sense to not look back. He let her pass and shut the door behind himself gently so that it did not make any unnecessary noise; and for that, Sasuke was grateful. Maybe he wouldn't fire the driver…the maid was on thin ice in his eyes though.

After the door was closed, Sasuke allowed his hand to drop from Naruto's head to his own side, sighing as he did so.

Turning to Suigetsu, Sasuke explained, "They were going to ask, and I don't want to put Naruto through that." While he explained, he had used his free hand to rub Naruto's back.

"Ah," Suigetsu said as a way of telling Sasuke that he understood. He then resumed looking awkwardly to the side, making it completely obvious that he did not know what to say.

Sasuke could tell that Suigetsu's intentions were honest, so he threw him a landline, "We were actually going to get something to eat from the kitchen. Do you want to join us?"

Suigetsu gave a nod and led the way to the kitchen with Sasuke following and Naruto still clutching onto Sasuke's shirt sleeve.

Sasuke led Naruto to a stool in front of the counter. Once Naruto was seated, Sasuke announced to him that he was getting Naruto some instant ramen, which Naruto had perked up slightly for. It was not the usual happy dance, or imitations of his stomach crying out for its love, but rather raised eyebrows in interest and the slightest of smiles.

Suigetsu grabbed the stool a seat away from Naruto; a 'suggestion' made by Sasuke who knew that Naruto would not appreciate accidental nudges by an elbow.

Naruto gave a timid look at the exposed bandage on Suigetsu's leg just over his knee, his eyes when he looked up at Suigetsu were filled with guilty concern; as if he blamed himself for Suigetsu's injury.

Glancing down, Suigetsu grimaced before saying, "Uh, yeah, uh," cleared his throat and resumed, "I got sent to the hospital with those bodyguards, or at least the chick. They, eh, they cleaned it up real nice and stuff. Said it was a clean cut and stuff so it wasn't infected or nothing, just hurt like a motherfu—" he cut himself off when he saw Naruto bow his head with guilt, "But they bandaged it just fine, see? They said that it's nothing to worry about and that I should just stay off my feet for a day or three while it heals."

"But you obviously didn't." Sasuke cut in as he emerged from the pantry with a cup of instant ramen in hand.

Suigetsu gave a nervous chuckle before agreeing, "Yeah, staying still was never my strong suit. And anyways, I just wanted to drop by to see how you were doing, Naruto."

Naruto jumped slightly when his name was mentioned and gave Suigetsu a curious gaze, silently asking why.

Once again, Suigetsu became uncomfortable, but this time he kept eye contact, "Well you see, uh. I just wanted to…I wanted to apologize."

Naruto's steady gaze only grew in confusion.

"It's just…I was a real asshole, okay?" Suigetsu suddenly announced with vigor, "I said all those disgusting accusations to you in order to get a rise out of Sasuke. I had no idea that…no idea that…that any of them had any actual basis! I thought you were a one-night-stand and just wanted to mess with Sasuke. I never meant…and then I saw…I'm just really, _really_ sorry!"

Naruto looked shocked and opened his mouth, but said nothing and closed it once more and bowed his head again.

Then the water Sasuke had been heating started to boil so he turned the stove off and poured the water into Naruto's cup of ramen. Taking pity on Suigetsu, Sasuke decided to translate, "Naruto accepted your apology and is grateful that you took the time to tell him in person."

Naruto looked up and faced Suigetsu long enough to nod his agreement with what Sasuke just translated, then bowed his head once more to hide his face again.

"Hey, no problem. And for the record, you don't have to worry about this old thing," Suigetsu gestured towards his leg, "it's not your fault. It's that bastard's fault! He's a real piece of creepy work! I had no IDEA there are people like THAT in the world! Man, if I had to spend a whole day with the guy: I'd go fucking _insane_! And to think! You had to—" Suigetsu cut himself off after seeing Sasuke's glare as the Uchiha handed Naruto the instant ramen and some chopsticks. Suigetsu cleared his throat and tried again, "I mean, you are so much more of a bigger man than me. You've got some serious balls, kid."

At the compliment, Naruto offered Suigetsu a small smile before focusing all of his attention towards the meal in front of him, taking his time to savor the flavor rather than slurping it all at once like he normally would.

"Is there anything else?" Sasuke asked, not in an unkind tone. He was already preparing his angel another cup of instant ramen. Not that he wanted Suigetsu gone per say, the man had proven himself worthy in the Uchiha's eyes with his sincere apology, but he knew that his angel was still weary of Suigetsu despite knowing that he was no threat and for that Sasuke wanted the man to leave so Naruto could feel calm.

Understanding, Suigetsu said, "Nah, not really. Just," he directed his attention towards Naruto again, "lemme know if you ever need anything, 'kay? I'll kick anybody's ass for ya and then some."

Naruto looked up and gave him a nod before returning his attention back towards his food once more.

"Thank you." Sasuke translated, adding in his own thanks as well.

Suigetsu nodded and began limping for the door.

"Just a minute," Sasuke called, taking out his cell phone. He dialed a number and waited for his driver to pick up.

"H-hello?" his driver's voice sounded from the phone after a couple of rings.

"I need you to come back up and help Suigetsu to the car and drive him home." Sasuke ordered, replacing Naruto's empty cup with a new cup of instant ramen.

"Y-yes sir! Right away, sir!" his driver's voice nearly shouted.

Not bothering to carry on the conversation, Sasuke ended the call and placed his phone in his pajama pocket.

"I'll be right back," Sasuke assured his angel, "I'm just going to help Suigetsu to the couch."

Naruto nodded to his meal and Sasuke made his way to a still limping Suigetsu.

"I told you to wait, you idiot." Sasuke chided as he looped the man's arm over his shoulders to support him.

"It's fine, it's fine, just sore is all." Suigetsu weakly defended.

"Hn." Sasuke said as he unceremoniously dropped the other onto the couch.

"Hey! Injured man here!" Suigetsu complained as he readjusted himself.

"I thought it was fine, and 'just sore'." Sasuke repeated.

"Jackass." Suigetsu grumbled, crossing his arms.

"Hn." Sasuke grunted, then he said, "Tell the driver he isn't fired and _stay quiet_ the both of you. I don't want any sudden noises that could startle Naruto."

"I gotcha, man. You're a jackass, driver isn't fired, and stay quiet. Got it." Suigetsu summed up with a toothy grin.

"Hn." Sasuke smirked as he turned to go back to the kitchen.

In all honesty, he had expected much less than what his angel was showing him today. Sasuke had honestly thought that his angel would be an inconsolable ball of fear personified today.

Sasuke had anticipated that Naruto would reject him the moment he woke up and would demand for solitude. He predicted that Naruto would stay in the room and be clinging to Sasuke with trembling fear when he learned that there were other people in the apartment. He had guessed that Naruto would not agree to see Suigetsu and beg Sasuke to make everybody leave. He had expected Naruto to not allow Sasuke to lead him to a seat for himself but rather continue clinging onto Sasuke out of fear.

Sasuke was extremely proud of his angel and the strength he demonstrated today. He could tell that being around people scared Naruto, but still his angel had stayed strong and had not broken down due to fear.

Naruto may not be talking, but he was still healing and Sasuke would not push him in any way other than what was necessary like making sure Naruto stayed healthy. He would let his angel set the pace for recovery and he would not question it.

Sasuke decided that he would be Naruto's pillar of strength. He would definitely be there to protect his angel in every way he can and be his angel's support. He'd make sure he was the constant in Naruto's life now and provide him with as much strength as he needed.

Looking at his angel, Sasuke smiled. His angel was pulling at the overlarge sleeves of that brown sweatshirt and succeeding at making Sasuke consider sending Nara a belated thank you note for one of the best presents he'd ever received.

Walking around the counter so he could speak with his angel without startling him, Sasuke suggested, "I could call Ichiraku Ramen and order one of the biggest delivery meals they have ever received. So would that be ten bowls of the house special, or twenty?" Sasuke asked with a gentle smile.

As predicted, Naruto's eyes lit up at the thought of his new favorite restaurant's food being offered so readily. He nodded his head, silently asking to _please_ hurry up and call them.

His smile growing, Sasuke reached for his cellphone so he could dial the number he had saved previously after eating at the restaurant and his angel proclaiming it to be the best and his absolute favorite.

Then Naruto reached out his hand—only the tips of his fingers visible because of the large sleeves—and Sasuke intertwined their fingers. Once their hands were joined, Naruto tugged Sasuke's arm, silently beckoning him to the other side of the counter where Naruto was sitting.

Instantly complying, Sasuke walked around the counter and was surprised to find himself being wrapped into a hug by his angel.

Placing his now free arm around Naruto's waist, Sasuke returned the unexpected but nonetheless pleasing hug.

"Thank you." Naruto whispered, giving Sasuke an extra squeeze.

Sasuke's smile grew to the largest one yet as he recognized the gratitude not being simply for ordering from Naruto's favorite restaurant but also for everything that Sasuke had done for Naruto.

"Anytime." Sasuke replied, letting the truth behind the word sink in before ordering twenty bowls of the house special to a very enthusiastic employee on the other side of the line.

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><p><strong>And that was the chapter!<strong>

**So here is something that has been bothering me for awhile: What is up with the Neji x Gaara pairing? I'm not knocking it down in any way, I'm just trying to understand! To my nerdy knowledge of the Naruto series, Neji and Gaara have not shared any moment when they are alone together. The only times they are together are in group settings!**

**The only explanation that ~I~ can come up with is the best friend factors where people pair them for convenience since Neji would be the best friend character to Sasuke as Gaara is to Naruto. Other than that, I am at a loss.**

**So I shout out an apology for anyone who reeeeeeeeeeeally likes that particular pairing but I personally do not get it and will not write it ever. To me, that is like pairing up random people in the Naruto world like Kankuro and Choji. But if you like it then, hey! Keep on loving it, you yaoi fan you! Don't let my opinion sway you! Instead, try to sway _me_ because I am clearly lacking in knowledge.**

**Anyhoo, thank you, thank you, thank you, THANK YOU to those who reviewed! There was a little less love last chapter, but I blame that on last chapter's comparative lame-ness. Hopefully THIS chapter is better!**

**So please review and lemme know! I crave your feedback as much as these NejiGaa fans crave fluffy moments between the two! THEY KEEP MY MUSE A-MUSE-D!**


	18. Recovering

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

**I friggin' love fake glasses. I have a couple of pairs, including a fake broken one that I bought at a Halloween store. I almost convinced one of my professors that they were real prescription glasses too! It was during the first month of classes when I wore them and he did a double-take at the fake broken-ness (lines on the lenses in jagged, cracked designs) and he asked what had happened. I told him that I needed more contact lenses, but my roommie in the same class called me out on it. Then when people learned they were fake they all wanted to see through the fake broken glasses so they got passed around (even to the professor).**

**I also bought some professional looking fake glasses in order to help me concentrate. Or at least, let others know when I am working so they won't bother me lol. In fact, I am wearing them now XD**

**Onwards with the chapter!**

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><p>Settling out how to work from home was surprisingly easy. Understanding the situation, Nara was more amiable to the idea and agreed to help with the workload instead of griping about it like he normally would. Together with Nara and his secretary, Sasuke found a temporary system so he could work at home until Naruto could handle staying in the apartment without Sasuke being there as well.<p>

Shikamaru had agreed to take over the meetings that could not be held over the phone alone and take Sasuke's job of scaring people into productivity. Hinata agreed to send over all of Sasuke's work to his home office, even volunteering to drive back and forth with documents if needed.

Sasuke had assured Shikamaru that he would be available on the phone so Shikamaru only had to be at the meetings in body so the client or partner would not think that they were being carted off as unimportant while Shikamaru likewise assured Sasuke that he would call only for essential meetings or to appease/punish pretentious bastards demanding for the president's presence. And Sasuke had assured Hinata that she would only have to visit the apartment once in order to transfer the documents Sasuke had completed with the ones he needed to work on, letting her choose the time because of the inconvenience.

He had taken the first day off from work completely, focusing solely on his angel's comfort and well-being.

Naruto, for the most part, was numb and subdued. He rarely spoke, and when he did he spoke in hushed tones and whispers.

His angel preferred to wear Sasuke's clothing but never explained to Sasuke why, not that he was bothered by seeing his clothes looking cuter on his angel than he could ever pull off. Sasuke noticed that his angel specifically chose some of Sasuke's older and unstylish clothing that covered almost all of his body.

Naruto also followed Sasuke around by clutching a piece of Sasuke's clothing, usually the back of his shirt. The blonde did not like being alone in any room save for the bathroom. He refused to let Sasuke enter the bathroom while he was in there, no matter how long he took. He similarly refused to enter the bathroom with Sasuke in it, preferring in both cases for the other to wait in the room outside so the one in the bathroom would only have to knock on the door loudly to announce that they were about to come out.

He did, however, allow himself and Sasuke to be in the bathroom at the same time when Sasuke was checking upon his bandages and reapplying them.

Naruto now took short showers and changed rather quickly in there as well. One time, he took more than half an hour, and when he came out, Sasuke had to bandage his hand and order a replacement mirror.

Naruto had also lost the majority of his appetite. Before, he would continuously ask Sasuke for more and more brands of junk food, saying that he always wanted to try them but was denied as a child and dared not ask during his entrapment, causing Sasuke to be completely unable to deny his angel of his culinary desires. He would also eat so much of the junk that Sasuke wondered more than once if his angel was really a human garbage can.

But now, Naruto would only eat small portions of the meals had prepared for them. He even ate less ramen, which Sasuke had allowed to be included every dinner due to it being Naruto's seeming comfort food and one of the only things he would eat without fail.

After the second day was when Sasuke had implemented his system for working at home. He spent the majority of the day with his angel as he had done the previous two days, but he had spent two hours in a meeting over the phone in his office.

While on the phone, Sasuke had sat at his desk so he had the proper documents in front of him for reference, but he also had his angel sitting on the floor against his desk next to his chair as well. For the most part, Naruto had amused himself quietly; either going on the laptop Sasuke had bought for him to waste time on nonsensical websites including one where the sole point was to poke a plate of jelly. But occasionally, Naruto would tug on Sasuke's leg so Sasuke would smile at him or rub his head in order to reassure himself that Sasuke was still there.

Sasuke had spent two days working in that fashion, until he could not ignore the paper work anymore.

That morning during breakfast, Sasuke had explained that he needed to work, but assured Naruto that they would still eat lunch together and that Naruto could stay in the office if he so chose.

Naruto did not verbally reply, though he did give Sasuke a sleepy nod to show that he had understood what Sasuke had told him. He then sluggishly went Sasuke's room—which he had been sharing with him as he was unable to sleep without holding onto Sasuke—and grabbed an extra pillow and blanket as well as his stuffed fox, Kyuubi. Upon joining Sasuke in the Uchiha's office, he set up a comfortable camp in his self-designated 'spot' next to Sasuke's desk and took a little nap, hugging his stuffed animal.

After his nap, Naruto was a little fidgety, staring at the door and sending Sasuke quick glances that the blonde had thought the working man had not noticed.

After the fourth glance, Sasuke placed his hand upon Naruto's shoulder and asked in a gentle voice, "Is there anything you need?"

Naruto had a guilty look on his face, feeling bad for interrupting Sasuke's work and quickly shook his head in the negative.

Sasuke amended his question, "Is there anything you want?"

Naruto bit his lip, and bowed his head in near shame, mumbling, "Yes. . ."

Sasuke patiently waited for Naruto to elaborate.

Noticing this, his angel mumbled, "I uh, wanted to get a-a DVD and a s-snack. B-but I can get it myself." He declared the last part not in the usual determination to be independent, but in a meek determination to not cause Sasuke any more trouble than he had already caused.

Sasuke stood up and Naruto flinched, immediately scrambling away and throwing his arms above his head in an automatic reaction, expecting to get hit for his insolence and ungratefulness.

Sasuke then slowly walked over to his trembling angel, kneeled down in front his him and placed a hand gently on his shoulder.

It took a little while as the two were frozen in that position, but slowly Naruto lowered his arms enough to peer over them and observe the person in front of him in wonder.

Giving his angel a gentle smile, Sasuke asked, "Which movie?"

Relief flooded into them both as Naruto gave the widest smile he had given ever since returning. Naruto was relieved that Sasuke had proven to once again be a hundred times different and immensely superior to all of his previous Masters combined. Sasuke was relieved because had truly feared that he had messed all the progress the both had made by his abruptly standing.

Sasuke led the way to the entertainment room so Naruto could grab a couple of DVDs and was extremely proud to see that Naruto was only a step diagonally behind him and was not clutching to any piece of his clothing.

The two then went to the kitchen where instead of ramen, Naruto chose a bag of extra butter popcorn and a Pepsi for his movie watching snack. Sasuke had insisted on carrying the popcorn while Naruto carried the rest of his supplies.

His angel surprised him on the way back by not only walking next to him the majority of the way but also going ahead of Sasuke to the office doorway, though he did stop outside with an apprehensive expression on his face. Sasuke noisily walked up behind him—so he would not surprise and scare his angel—before placing a comforting hand on the blonde's shoulder and walking into the office ahead of him to make sure that it was safe and that there was no one hiding in there to kidnap or hurt Naruto.

The two stayed in the office until dinner in a comfortable silence; Sasuke working to catch up on his paper work and Naruto going through his pile of DVDs while eating his snack.

During dinner, while Naruto did not offer much to the conversation, he did eat all of his barbeque dinner, much to Sasuke's inner delight.

The weekend had passed by in the same fashion with the amount of work that had piled up for Sasuke during his near weeklong absence.

As Monday rolled around, the two had settled into the new work routine. Naruto had grown accustomed within the past three days within his self-claimed area on the floor next to Sasuke's desk, having expanded from next to Sasuke's chair. He had his laptop, a couple of choice DVDs, a pair of orange headphones so he would not bother Sasuke. Naruto also had his favorite blanket and had taken to carrying his stuffed fox named Kyuubi with him everywhere he went in the apartment.

Sasuke was quite proud of his angel. Sure, Naruto rarely spoke and only did in a subdued fashion, but with each passing day there were little improvements. The greatest, in Sasuke's opinion, was Naruto calming himself out of hyperventilating during the usual morning terror of waking up.

While Sasuke was content with how his angel was coping, he felt trepidation for today since today was the first day that his secretary would join them in the apartment so she and Sasuke could switch the necessary documents to continue work and to continue this work arrangement.

He had arranged yesterday with his secretary that she would arrive around lunchtime for the convenience for both of them and as a precaution for his angel.

The time was not the only precaution that Sasuke and Hinata had agreed upon. The two had discussed what they each thought would be best for preventing terrifying Naruto as well as his recovery. At first, Sasuke had wanted his secretary to drop off the papers by the door after he set yesterday's work there so that his angel would not have to go through the anxiety of having another person in the apartment, not when Naruto was starting to recover.

Sasuke was near positive that the reason that his angel was able to make recent personal bounds of recovery was because he was alone with Sasuke in the apartment. Not that Sasuke was being conceited by thinking that _he_ was the reason his angel was recovering the way he was; he knew that his angel took comfort in knowing that he had no reason to fear Sasuke and that Naruto believed that he was completely safe as long as he was near Sasuke, despite not being able to stay in a room by himself. Sasuke was positive that only he had that level of trust from Naruto and that his angel would retreat within himself if someone else entered the apartment.

His secretary was of a different opinion, though, and was being unusually assertive about said opinion. She insisted—politely of course—that she take the documents to his office just before lunch. She had said that it was important for Naruto to be reintroduced to people in a safe and controlled manner sooner rather than later as the more time spent away from civilization would only cause Naruto to grow even more distrustful and fearful of people. Hinata had firmly stated—stuttering only once—that even though Naruto was scared, he hated being weak more than anything and would push himself through this recovery, so they would provide the necessary steps towards his achievements.

Sasuke eventually agreed with his usually meek secretary, silently thankful that Naruto had befriended someone who cared for his wellbeing as much as she did; though no one could ever surpass Sasuke's immense levels of caring and love for his angel. No one.

The night before, during dinner, Sasuke had told his angel that his secretary would be coming over the next day in order to exchange documents with Sasuke for work.

As he had expected, Naruto had not replied. Naruto nodded to his miso soup while clutching his spoon with more force than before the announcement. Sasuke had assured his angel that it would be a quick exchange and that Naruto would not even have to be present, nor was he expected to say anything to the shy secretary.

Upon hearing this, Naruto's grip on the spoon lessened, but he still looked trepid but determined.

That night, Naruto had shyly curled himself into Sasuke rather than lying atop of him like he was apt to while he slept. Understanding without requiring Naruto to embarrass himself by asking, Sasuke wrapped his arms around Naruto in a comforting embrace, smiling slightly as he heard and felt his angel let loose a satisfied sigh of relief.

After the two had woken up to the alarm, Sasuke had reminded Naruto again of his secretary's visit during breakfast. Though, he was not sure if the reminder had registered to Naruto since he was trying to eat his pancakes with a spoon in his sleepy daze, which he did somewhat successfully.

The rest of the morning went by like usual; Sasuke did his work while Naruto sat in his area, silently amusing himself. The only difference between today and the weekend was that Naruto had reverted back to sitting behind the desk, next to Sasuke's chair. Like before, he would occasionally grab onto Sasuke's pant leg to reassure himself that Sasuke was nearby; however he did not do it as constantly as before.

The normal schedule was to eat at 1:00PM, so Sasuke and his secretary had agreed that she would arrive at 12:45AM. As soon as 12:24 appeared on the clock, there was a soft knock on the office door.

Knowing that it was his secretary since he had arranged for his driver to escort her to and from the building—but not to enter the apartment—and giving her a key, Sasuke called for her to enter after firmly grasping the slightly trembling hand that had instantly grabbed his leg when the knock was heard.

Just as she would in the Uchiha Corp building, Hinata Hyuuga quietly opened the door just wide enough for her petit frame to walk through and walked directly to the front of Sasuke desk, standing a respectable arm's length away. In her hand was a manila folder filled with the work Sasuke had to complete.

Sasuke used his free hand to give her an identical manila folder filled with the done paperwork and the two exchanged folders without any problem.

If they were at the Uchiha Corp office instead of his home office, Sasuke would simply turn back to his work while his secretary returned to hers. But his secretary had explained to him that it would be helpful to Naruto if the two of them had conversations during the exchange so that Naruto could ease himself into being comfortable with talking to other people other without the pressure of initiating them himself.

Remembering this, Sasuke had adopted a light tone instead of his usual curt business tone he used in any office and asked, "How has your day been, Ms. Hyuuga?"

"Ve-very well, thank you, M-Mr. Uchiha. Mr. N-Nara has been most efficient i-in explain-ning that y-you are helping a f-family member recover a-and that you are wor-working from h-home in-in order to b-better aid th-them." His secretary replied, clutching the manila envelope to her chest.

"Ah, so that's what he's been telling people." Sasuke said, rubbing his thumb against his angel's quivering hand, noticing that it was not trembling as much as when Sasuke and his secretary were exchanging the envelopes in silence. His secretary was smart, maybe he'd give her a raise.

"W-well, it is the tr-truth, sir." Hinata said with a gentle smile as her gaze was directed to the side of the desk where Naruto was hidden behind.

"Yes it is," Sasuke confirmed with a gentle squeeze of the hand, "I was just curious as Nara had not told me this, merely saying that he'd take care of the 'troublesome' bystanders."

Hinata returned her gaze back to Sasuke and said, "Th-that is what het-told the upper m-management of-of each depar-partment as w-well as a w-warning t-to not spread i-it around or-or ask que-questions u-unless th-they want-ted t-to g-get demoted or f-fired d-depending on how ma-many p-p-people they t-tell."

"He's a smart man, that Shikamaru is." Sasuke openly complimented, allowing for such an action to occur as a thanks to the man who prevented his annoying fangirls from getting any information that could be twisted into either a longing for the same treatment or an over-romanticism into their heads making them believe that he was a sweet and caring person, thus dementing themselves into believing that he would fall in love with them despite how he utterly despised them. That, or the vice president did not want to get hounded for questions or details. Nevertheless, Sasuke was thankful.

"S-so far, n-none of the up-upper management h-have ta-taken the m-matter any fur-further, th-though some em-employees h-have asked abou-about your absence." Hinata told her boss.

"And what has he told them?" Sasuke asked while he intertwined his fingers with his angel's.

"He t-told th-them that i-it is n-none of th-their business a-and he t-told th-the m-me th-that I-I could t-tell th-them anything I wanted i-if they ask-asked m-me b-because i-it was g-getting 'troublesome', sir."

Sasuke inwardly smirked at his vice-president's antics and asked, "And what have you told them?"

"J-just th-that you are wor-working fr-from home f-for a wh-while, sir." Hinata answered, then asked, "Do you think there is anything else I should say?" aiming the question at Naruto.

Following Hinata's gaze, Sasuke looked down to Naruto who curled into a tighter ball as if to keep Hinata from seeing him over the desk.

Quickly looking up, Sasuke answered, "Not at the moment, no. Maybe next time. And please thank Mr. Nara for his work."

Recognizing the dismissal, Hinata replied, "O-of c-course Mr. U-Uchiha. Pl-please have a pl-pleasant d-day, s-sir."

"You as well, Ms. Hyuuga—" Sasuke acknowledged when he felt a small tug on his hand. Looking down he saw Naruto look up at him before darting his eyes to where he guessed Hinata was.

Smiling gently at Naruto's effort to speak to his friend and understanding that Naruto was not quite at the level where he could do it himself, Sasuke spoke for him, "And Naruto wishes you a nice day as well."

Hinata smiled and looked towards Naruto's direction, almost as if looking through the desk and said, "I will, thank you Naruto and have an excellent day yourself." With a final nod towards her boss, Hinata turned around and left the room, manila folder in hand, and closed the door gently behind her.

Still holding onto Naruto's hand, Sasuke waited until he was sure that his secretary had left the apartment before facing his angel and saying, "It is time for lunch."

Nodding, Naruto let go of Sasuke's hand—to the slight disappointment of the Uchiha—and used both now free hands to shuffle off of the floor to a standing position, waiting for Sasuke to lead the way to the kitchen.

As Sasuke passed by Naruto to open the door, he was inwardly delighted to feel hesitant fingers poke themselves between his own. Outwardly giving a small smile, he squeezed his angel's hand and began leading the way to the kitchen.

Once in the kitchen, Naruto took a seat at the outside part of the counter as to not get in Sasuke's way as he grabbed a frozen pizza that Naruto was fond of.

As he waited for the oven to preheat for the pizza, Sasuke started to prepare drinks for himself and his angel; water for himself and milk for Naruto. He also gathered the necessary preparation utensils such as a pan for the frozen pizza and a pizza cutter for later as well as plates.

Once everything had been successfully located and placed on the island in the kitchen, it did not take too long before the oven was ready for the frozen pizza as he was not as adept in the kitchen as his angel was since he was not one to usually cook for himself; hence the professional chef he had hired, Choji.

While waiting for the frozen pizza to cook, Sasuke walked over to Naruto's side of the counter. Before he could take initiative and place an arm around his angel's waist, Naruto asked in a soft voice, "Was it…bad that I didn't talk to Hinata?" hunching his shoulders and bowing his head.

Taken slightly aback by the sudden question, Sasuke quickly recovered and pulled his angel into a comforting embrace. Resting his chin on top of Naruto's head, Sasuke told him in a gentle tone, "No, it's not bad. Hinata understands that you have been through a lot and does not expect you to start talking to people so fast. She wants you to take your time until you are fully comfortable around her and will wait."

Naruto's arms gripped Sasuke's arms that were wrapped around his torso and asked in a small voice, "Really?"

Giving a gentle squeeze, Sasuke whispered, "Really."

Detaching himself from his angel in order to check on the pizza, as per the instructions for frozen pizza, Sasuke called over his shoulder, "She was overjoyed that you wanted to make sure that your goodbye as well."

Naruto looked up to face Sasuke's back as the Uchiha peered inside the oven and asked, "Will she be back tomorrow?"

Closing the oven door for the pizza was not quite ready yet, Sasuke turned around and answered, "She'll be over every day as long as I continue to work from home."

Nodding, Naruto bowed his head again and asked, "A-and how long will th-that be?"

Giving his angel a reassuring smile, Sasuke said in an assured tone, "As long as you want me to stay with you."

A blush swept over Naruto's visible cheeks as he murmured, "You don't have to stay here because of me. I don't want to get in the way of your work."

"Then as long as it takes you to recover enough to be comfortable around people." Sasuke countered. As his secretary had reminded him earlier, his angel thrived on challenges rather than open concern. Sasuke hoped that by giving Naruto a clear goal—being comfortable around people again—his angel would start really applying himself to his recovery. Not for Sasuke since god knows how much he preferred spending all day with his precious angel rather than the imbeciles back at work, but for Naruto.

At the challenge, Naruto's head shot up as he said in a slightly loud voice, "Bastard! I'm not some weak woman in need of babysitting! Just watch! You'll be back at work by next week!"

Making a show of raising his eyebrows at his angel and smirking, Sasuke grunted, "Hn," and turned back to the oven to take the now cooked pizza out for their lunch.

"BASTARD!" Naruto shouted as Sasuke smiled, picturing his angel standing up on the counter brandishing anything holdable at Sasuke's back.

He'd have to make a mental note to tell Shikamaru that he'd be back work faster than he expected.

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><p><strong>And that was the chapter!<strong>

**Sigh. I started this while on family vacation about two weeks ago then got a major writer's block as well as an avid interest for the Olympics (GO USA WOO!) I told myself that I would be finished by the time I had to go back to my grandfather's house in order to help paint his house. But I almost failed. I am supposed to be 'packing' now as we are leaving within the hour. But I wanted to post this before I left and did not have internet access. Grr, I kinda suck at deadlines. Looks like the professional procrastinator has struck again!**

**Thank you to those who review! You guys are the reason my muse allowed this rush job! Love ya!**


	19. Loved at Last

**Disclaimer: I don't own anyone in the Naruto universe.**

**I just moved into my new dorm and I am veeeery apprehensive about it. We are tripling in a room smaller than my freshman dorm room. That is manageable, but not the next part TT_TT THERE IS NO AIR CONDITIONIIIIIIING! And I'm on the top floor where stupid science and logic makes hot air rise to us. Legend says that it becomes bearable after the third week. . .but until then it is every man for himself, even though I am a woman. . .**

**But anyways, this will be the last chapter so enjoy!**

**Onwards with the story!**

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><p>If Naruto had to choose two words to describe himself at the moment, it would be successful and safe.<p>

Why successful? It wasn't as if he went out and won some sort of Nobel prize, or had gone out and achieved the American Dream. But he did it.

He won Sasuke's challenge of getting him to work within the week!

Well, technically it was Naruto who had issued the challenge. . .but whatever! He won!

It had been hard, like, really hard, but Naruto pushed himself to improve himself in dealing with people again.

First, he made himself get used to having people in the apartment once more.

On Tuesday, when Hinata had visited them to drop off some boring work stuff, Naruto made the effort to successfully make a conversation with her. He was holding onto Sasuke's arm and almost pulling him down to the floor to his spot. And they talked about the weather.

But dammit, he made that conversation his bitch.

On Wednesday, he—while pulling Sasuke along by the sleeve—had greeted Hinata at the door.

He was very surprised to see that Kiba had opened the door for Hinata and almost ran back to Sasuke's room in fear that there were more people who would stare at his bandages and ask him about them and make him relive what First Master had made him do and then Sasuke would realize that he was actually disgusted with the filthy whore Naruto was and would kick him out and say that he could never love someone so tainted and Naruto would be heartbroken because he would never get the chance to tell Sasuke that he loved him too and First Master would break out of jail and find him and First Master would take him back to the torture room and First Master would chain him to the bed again and First Master would do all those horrible things to him again and Naruto would realize that he really _was_ a filthy whore and he would beg for death and First Master would cruelly keep him on that line between life and death and First Master would only kill him once he was old and not useful anymore.

But he didn't. Instead, he hid halfway behind Sasuke and welcomed them to Sasuke's apartment.

Kiba had kept darting his eyes between Naruto and Sasuke and seemed to be intimidated or something; which struck Naruto as odd because clearly _he_ was the more frightened one of the two. Naruto was the one hiding behind someone!

Kiba had looked ready to leave and stay by the car or whatever, but Naruto was determined to show Sasuke—and himself—that he was ready for human interaction!

He timidly invited Kiba and Hinata to lunch without stuttering too much!

Hinata smiled as her reward for him, but Kiba seemed apprehensive for some reason.

If Naruto was to be perfectly honest, he would have admitted that he was a little relieved; but he needed to push himself! He couldn't stay a weakling who needed to hide! He needed to get Sasuke back to work!

So he asked Kiba why he didn't want to join them for lunch. Oddly enough, Kiba had glanced at Sasuke, looked even more frightened, and agreed.

Confused, Naruto had tugged on the arm he was hiding behind to see if Sasuke had some sort of scary bug or something on his face Kiba saw but didn't mention. But Sasuke had turned his head around and smiled gently at Naruto. There was nothing scary on his face, so Naruto let whatever had scared Kiba slide since it must have disappeared.

Not that he had much time to think about it because then he was distracted with Sasuke suggesting that Naruto take Hinata to the home office room and help her switch the necessary folders for work or whatever. Eager to prove just how much he had improved and recovered, Naruto had agreed.

It wasn't until he was in the hallway did Naruto realize that Sasuke wasn't with him and that Kiba hadn't seen Naruto since that he came back from. . .yeah. . .and had no idea what had happened—thankfully—and also no idea why Naruto still had bandages on his face.

With the sudden realization of both facts, Naruto froze. He was very, very tempted to curl into himself and back up against the wall so there would be no chance of anyone noticing his newly recut scars and make him recount everything and make Sasuke be disgusted with him. He was seriously considering it, when he felt a soft touch on his hand.

Already paranoid, Naruto whipped around to face whatever touched him while he backed against the wall, slid down it, and held the touch against his chest, all with very wide eyes from fear.

He immediately felt guilty and ashamed of his reaction because he saw that the one who had touched his hand was Hinata, who still had her hand slightly extended. She probably made sure to touch his hand to avoid this reaction. Dammit.

Naruto was about to apologize profusely, but Hinata beat him to the punch.

"I apologize, Naruto." Hinata said in a soft, but confident voice without any stuttering.

Naruto's guilt had amplified tenfold. _He_ should have been the one apologizing. _He_ was the weak one who still couldn't even go to other rooms by himself. _He_ was the one who constantly freaked out over little things normal people wouldn't even think twice about. _He_ was the one who flinched away from her, who was only concerned about him. _He_ was the ungrateful one who needed to apologize!

"No! _I_ should apologize! You did nothing wrong! I—" Naruto was cut off by Hinata kneeling down in front of him and smiling kindly at him.

"Yes, I did do something wrong. You are always so strong that sometimes I forget just how hard everything has been." She spoke in a soft, but comforting tone.

But Naruto was not paying attention to her apology or how she had not stuttered even once when speaking to him. All he was focused on was how she had called him 'strong'.

"Str-strong?" Naruto whispered back, looking back at her with wide eyes, hardly believing that such a word could be used to describe someone as weak as him!

Hinata's smile widened as she repeated softly, "Strong."

Naruto huddled into himself further and touched his fingers to his bandages on his cheeks—careful to not aggravate the injuries underneath—and avoided her gentle gaze as he whispered, "Even. . .even though. . .—"

"You are strong." Hinata confirmed with her gentle smile.

Naruto poked his head out from his protective bubble to smile gratefully at her, only to dive right back in in fear of Kiba noticing his bandages like before and questioning them.

Not quite understanding, Hinata asked, "Do you want me to get Sasuke?"

Naruto had shook his head in the negative, intent on showing everyone that he had earned the right to be described as 'strong'. He was determined to be able to make the work thingy exchange without Sasuke's help; he just was not ready for any questions about anything. . .

He had turned his head away from the hallway entrance, just in case Kiba and Sasuke were wondering what was taking so long; he did not want to take any chances.

He was debating about the chances of being asked questions about his bandages while running his fingers over them absent mindedly when Hinata cut across them, assuring, "No one is going to ask about anything, you know."

Naruto had whipped his head around so that he was facing Hinata, stunned. Was she a mind reader like Sasuke was?

She continued, giving more indication towards Naruto's theory that Sasuke and those who worked for his company could read minds, and said, "I'm sure that Mr. Uchiha would start wearing your favorite orange sweatshirt and start jumping around to get to places before he would allow anyone to ask uncomfortable questions."

Naruto had laughed at this, for the first time since. . .yeah. . .because Hinata had given him one of the most hilarious images he had ever had dancing around in his head.

Feeling better knowing that he wouldn't be questioned and that Sasuke would take care of things, Naruto heaved himself up from the floor and led Hinata to Sasuke's office. She had to open the door and enter it first of course, but he had made it in and out of a room without Sasuke's presence!

After they—Hinata—did the work thingy, Hinata had led them to the kitchen where Naruto had promptly attacked himself to Sasuke's sleeve. The Uchiha had made Naruto some instant ramen while the rest had their choice of sandwiches for lunch.

It was a nice, peaceful lunch. With Sasuke sitting next to him, Naruto had the courage to start a conversation with Kiba. Nothing big, just asking how his dog Akamaru was doing, but every so often Kiba would glance at Sasuke as if expecting him to do some sort of laser beam thingy from his eyes.

Naruto would check to see if anything was wrong, but Sasuke would smile at him every time.

Naruto concluded that Kiba must be way too stressed or something since he was hallucinating. He'd have to ask Sakura about it later.

The lunch was quick. Normally, that would have disappointed Naruto, but he had found himself to be utterly relieved when it was just him and Sasuke in the penthouse once more. It felt safer than before and had given Naruto the confidence to enter and leave rooms at his leisure without a Sasuke-escort.

Thursday had pretty much gone the same way, just without the minor freak-out thing about his bandages and adding one Sakura Haruno to the lunch gang.

She, too, had been glancing at Sasuke every so often along with Kiba. They seemed kinda scared, but once again, Sasuke could only be found smiling at Naruto. Maybe they wanted a raise or something but were scared? Naruto didn't bother with it; money wasn't his thing.

Naruto still needed to be next to Sasuke when around all the other people, but he no longer needed to attach himself to an article of Sasuke's clothing, though that didn't stop him from wearing Sasuke's old baggy sweats and sweaters.

Sakura had said that it was cute, but Naruto had shrunk away behind Sasuke. Which somehow made Sakura say that she needed to check her phone outside on the terrace because she had missed a call. Weird. Naruto didn't hear her phone ring. . .

Not that he minded all that much. He just didn't want to admit out loud that he found his body sickening. After all, it was the whole reason he had gotten involved with all _that_ in the first place! And again when. . .yeah. . .

He also didn't want to admit that along with Sasuke's clothes being better adept at hiding his body than his own better fitting clothes, they all smelled like Sasuke and that had brought him an immense amount of comfort.

Sasuke had asked him if he was alright after pulling him into a hug. To which—after squeezing Sasuke—Naruto had said that he was indeed fine.

Lunch lasted about ten to fifteen minutes longer than the precious day, and had a more livelier conversation revolving around Sakura, Kiba, and Naruto insulting each other while Hinata worriedly turned her attention to each insulter like a tennis match and Sasuke had simply observed and occasionally grasped Naruto's hand.

Once again, when everyone had left the penthouse, Naruto had felt relief. It was not as intense as before, but he still felt consciously safer knowing that it was only him and Sasuke alone together and that nothing bad could happen with Sasuke with him.

This gave him the courage to not only walk around the penthouse at his leisure, but also regain a portion of his old energy. That night was the first night since. . . yeah. . .that Naruto had eaten all of his non-ramen dinner, enjoyed a movie night—Mulan—and be able to sleep with Sasuke with the light _off_.

Friday was the same as Thursday, but with more energy! Naruto had finally asked Sasuke why Sakura and Kiba seemed so stressed, and while Sasuke had said that he had no idea why, Naruto had noticed that the two in question did not glance at Sasuke with fearful expressions as often as the day before.

Saturday and Sunday did not have much for Naruto to report. In his opinion, things were similar to before all. . .yeah. . .and he had tried very hard to maintain such an energy level. He still refused to leave the apartment—not that Sasuke offered, it was just a fun fact that Naruto had kept to himself—but he was no longer fearful of being taken away while in the apartment.

Truth be told, he thought that he could have even handled sleeping in his own room again. But honestly, he did not want to. It may have been a freedom he had enjoyed after not being able to have a room to himself in his memory, but unlike before, he really _enjoyed_ sharing a room with Sasuke.

There certainly was a perk to sharing a bed with the man Naruto loved rather than being chained in a bed with a man intent on hurting him.

Sunday night was the only time when there was somewhat of a problem.

After dinner, Sasuke had told Naruto that he had thought that he had told Naruto to stop pretending to be happy in an attempt to make people—Sasuke—not worry about him.

Naruto had defended that he was not pretending; he really was happy and getting better.

Sasuke had smiled gently and said that he knew, but he also knew that it took a lot of energy to maintain a certain level of 'normalcy' that the blonde insisted on and that level was higher than genuine and that Sasuke was worried about him.

Naruto was expecting more of an argument—Sasuke insisting that Naruto was pushing himself too hard—so he did not know what to say next.

But then Sasuke had offered that they stay home on Monday, just to make sure that Naruto was not pushing himself further than he could manage.

Back in familiar territory, Naruto had insisted that he had spent too much time whimpering like some weak woman and that he would _not_ back down from his challenge; it had been a week and Sasuke _would_ be going back to work.

It took a little bit of debating, but after Naruto had relented to some conditions—letting Sasuke know the moment he felt the least bit overwhelmed and that they would not be staying the whole day—Sasuke had agreed to go into work the next day.

So Naruto could truthfully describe himself as successful.

He did not need any more reasons to know that he could describe himself as safe.

He had Sasuke, and Sasuke meant safety.

Naruto was currently assuring himself of that fact while Kiba was driving both him and Sasuke to work.

While he was perfectly able to walk around the apartment by himself, he knew that he would not be able to handle staying all alone in the penthouse without Sasuke and that he would be reduced to a ball of fear under a whole lot of blankets on Sasuke's bed before lunch. So he had asked Sasuke if he could join him at work, to which Sasuke agreed.

As a precaution, Sasuke had arranged everything so that they would be the first to arrive to work so that they could avoid people staring at the bandages Naruto had kept on his cheeks despite being able to take them off as of yesterday.

As Kiba dropped them off, Naruto thanked him and scurried after Sasuke.

While heading to Sasuke's big work office, Naruto was fighting off the urge to cling to Sasuke's suit jacket. He was strong! He wasn't weak! He could totally go through an empty building, that has been left empty throughout the weekend, with many hiding spaces, without holding onto Sasuke no prob—

He did not get too far in his self-argument when they passed by a particularly shadowy area and found himself latched onto Sasuke's sleeve. There was something there—HE COULD TELL!

Luckily, the pair made it to Sasuke's office without a hitch.

This office was way bigger than the one at Sasuke's home, so Naruto had no problem setting up a temporary base in the corner next to the window.

He felt a bit like he'd imagine a child would; Sasuke had packed him a bag filled with toys—his laptop, headphones, movies—his blanket, his stuffed Kyuubi, and a bag of snacks. Who cared that he was nineteen going on twenty? This was the first time anyone had prepared a bag like this in his life and he loved it!

Sasuke's work was kinda like what he did at home, but more. He took a whole lot more phone, Hinata visited his office more—with ample warning and always had a treat for Naruto, from a smile to food from the vending machine—and there was more seriousness involved here than at home.

Not that Naruto had minded; he had expected more seriousness because there was no way that something as boring as '_work_' could be as relaxed as things were at home, he trusted Hinata because of her somewhat knowing his limits, and he was on his computer watching episodes of something called Pokemon that Kiba had told him about during his last visit when Sasuke was on the trusted

Every so often, Sasuke would ask Naruto if he was okay; if he needed anything. Naruto would smile, and would explain his thoughts about how first generation pokemon was the best, despite watching it for the first time. Sasuke looked like he would roll his eyes should he be human.

Instead of going out for lunch, Sasuke had called for Hinata to get the two some fast food; Naruto's request.

Naruto was in the middle of describing how he knew shit was going to go down because the main character had turned his hat backwards when their food had arrived.

Along with it, Sasuke's bodyguards came too. Naruto wasn't going to pay it much mind, besides thanking them sincerely for helping rescue him from. . .yeah. . .since they were talking to Sasuke.

Naruto was eating his calorie filled and oh-so-orgasmically-delicious meal when Sasuke called for his attention.

Slightly confused, Naruto put down his meal and sat next to Sasuke on the desk.

Both Lee and TenTen stood at least an arm's length from Naruto, which he appreciated despite trusting these two who had helped save him immensely; probably the third most after Sasuke and Hinata and Suigetsu who were tied for second.

It was Lee who spoke first, "My dear friend, Naruto! I would very much like to know if you have a desire to hone your strength and youth with TenTen and myself."

Not understanding, Naruto turned a confused face towards the saner of the two, TenTen.

"He is offering you the chance for us to train you." TenTen translated with a slightly exasperated smile at her partner's expense.

"Train?" Naruto asked, still a little confused. Training to save Sasuke? Training for the ballet? Did they want him to tag along and watch or what?

"Training in self-defense." Sasuke clarified from next to him.

TenTen nodded, "Lee will handle teaching you hand-to-hand combat and I will teach you how to properly wield a weapon. Nothing big like a gun or fancy like a sword. Just the standard things like Tasers, mace, the occasional pipe and whatnot."

"Really?!" Naruto asked, very excited over the idea. All his life he had been an embarrassing weakling, unable to fight for himself. Not in the orphanage, not in the group home, and certainly not in the hands of those 'Masters'.

He turned to Sasuke, eyes lit in excitement. He wanted to know Sasuke's opinion; though if asked, he would swear that he did not care.

Sasuke gave him a smirk, for he did not grin in the presence of others, and nodded.

Overjoyed, Naruto smiled widely—his first sincerely wide smile since _that_—and thanked both of Sasuke's bodyguards repeatedly.

Lee smiled just as widely and posed, "YES! In order to truly hone your youth into strength, your clothing must be an extension of your youth!"

"Oh no. . ." TenTen shook her head and rolled her eyes while Naruto bounced with excitement.

"I want to hone my youth! Tell me how!" Naruto begged, bouncing higher and faster on the desk.

"YOU MUST WEAR ONE OF THESE!" Lee stripped off his clothes with a speedy flourish to reveal a green spandex jumpsuit underneath with orange legwarmers.

TenTen's palm flew to her face.

Sasuke's eyes widened a little at such a display.

Naruto jumped to his feet in awe.

"OHMYGAWSH YES!" Naruto's eyes were practically sparkling as he saw what Lee was wearing.

Lee posed once more, showing off that the jumpsuit was more of a green one-pieced leotard of sorts, "They are aerodynamic and lets your body breath while you push it to the limit! It is the ideal outfit for strength and power!"

"YES!" Naruto shouted, imagining himself in the same green outfit.

"I SHALL PURCHASE ONE FOR YOU!" Lee declared, posing once more to show Naruto how easily he flowed in this ultimate of clothing.

"Absolutely not." Sasuke cut in.

"WHAAAAT?" Naruto shouted. Lee looked like he was going to chime in his two cents, but bit it back because Sasuke was still his boss. "Why not?" Naruto demanded.

Sasuke turned to face him, his expression neutral as he said, "Contrary to apparently. . .'popular' belief: such an. . .'outfit' does _not_ do anything to hone your strength."

Naruto's face fell. So the outfit had no special powers? It wouldn't make him strong enough to face his demons? That was part of the appeal! That and it looked wickedly awesome.

". . .But it would not hurt to have something reserved specifically for training. . ." Sasuke offered a moment later.

Instantly Naruto's face lit up, "REALLY? I can have it?" he asked, making _sure_ he was hearing right.

"Hn." Sasuke confirmed.

"YES!" Naruto cheered, doing an impromptu victory dance.

Sasuke smirked, then resumed his neutral expression as he turned to his two bodyguards and said, "Lunch is over."

Nodding, Lee and TenTen made their way out. But before they left, TenTen exclaimed, "Oh!" and turned back to Naruto.

She reached into her pocket and pulled out a bag, "Forgive me for giving this back so late, but this was the earliest time we could see you without disturbing you."

Confused, Naruto accepted the bag she had held out for him, then retracted his hand quickly by reflex. He darted his eyes up to TenTen and Lee, ready to apologize for his rude gesture, but the two were already heading out the door and closing it behind them.

Naruto's curiosity peaked so he wasted no time in opening the bag and gasped.

Inside was the necklace Sasuke had given him!

Naruto gingerly picked it up out of the bag, noting that the string was still broken.

He turned to Sasuke with a watery smile and showed him the bag's content.

Sasuke turned and a slight smile reached across his face, though it was not the kind of smile Naruto was expecting to see. Instead of a happy smile that Naruto had gotten back his precious gift from Sasuke, there was a slightly. . ._sympathetic_ smile on Sasuke's face.

He reached out his hand and said in a gentle tone, "We can replace the string with a chain."

Instantly, Naruto withdrew his hand.

He didn't want to replace the string! While it was true that he would have preferred that the string _not_ be broken—especially because of _how_ it got broken—he couldn't replace it. The broken string was proof of his resolve! It was proof that he was strong enough to rebel against Fir-First Master; proof that he hadn't betrayed Sasuke.

Naruto turned his body around so that the necklace and its broken string was completely blocked—and safe—from Sasuke.

"Naruto?" Sasuke's voice asked, concerned, from behind him.

"No. . ." Naruto said, clutching the precious gift closer to himself.

"No?" Sasuke's voice sounded closer than it was before. And sure enough, soon Sasuke was in front of him.

"No." Naruto repeated, meeting Sasuke's gaze, "I don't want to replace it with a chain. I like it the way it is."

That made Sasuke's sympathetic expression return—without the smile—"The gift won't lose its meaning if we replace the string. You shouldn't have to wear anything that might remind you of _him_."

Naruto shook his head at Sasuke's misunderstanding, "The only way it reminds me of. . .of. . .of _him_ is how I wouldn't let him. . .t-t-touch-ch me." Naruto looked away. He could admit these things to himself, but saying them aloud was a completely different thing.

Sasuke's arms were around him in an instant, but Naruto refused to simply breathe in Sasuke's comforting scent and ignore his problems. He needed to be stronger and finish his friggin' sentence!

"And it is proof to me that I don't belong to h-h-him anym-more." Naruto may have finished with a stutter, but more importantly; he finished with pride in himself. He explained himself without panicking because of any flashbacks or awful memories!

Sasuke didn't move above him immediately, but soon enough he pressed his lips to the top of Naruto's head and said, "I understand."

Naruto squeezed Sasuke in return because he knew that trying to break free and smile up at him was futile; despite his best efforts.

The rest of the day went by kinda boringly; mostly because they left an hour after everyone else did. Sasuke had tried to remind Naruto around 3:30pm that he had agreed to Sasuke's condition of leaving early, but Naruto had argued that despite taking a large portion of the workload home, there was still a lot to do.

Aided by Hinata, and later the vice-president Shikamaru—who Naruto was _certain_ only came because Hinata had told him about Sasuke's attempt to leave—who had told Sasuke that he had only agreed to help with Sasuke's workload while the Uchiha was working from home; no more freebies or leaving early.

Sasuke looked like he was going to argue, but Naruto had jumped right in and had apologized on Sasuke's behalf and had promised to keep Sasuke at work until closing time.

Unable to resist Naruto's apologizing for him, Sasuke had wordlessly agreed to stay at work; to which Naruto had shared a thumbs-up with Shikamaru in victory—for different reasons—when Sasuke wasn't looking.

As a compromise to avoid the evening rush out of work, the two had stayed an hour after everyone else. Then Naruto's stomach had rumbled so Sasuke had said that they could pick something light to eat on the way back before dinner.

Once again, Naruto disagreed with Sasuke, and instead, asked if they could go out on for dinner.

Sasuke looked like he was going to refuse, but Naruto had a special reason for asking, so he used the term Sasuke had used before and said it could be a 'date'.

Sasuke agreed.

When Naruto had chosen Ichiraku Ramen, Sasuke had paused for a moment, before wearily agreeing, probably wondering why Naruto would want to return to the place where he was taken and then. . .yeah.

On the way to the restaurant, Sasuke had remained tense, but it was only noticeable by how white his knuckles were as they gripped the steering wheel. Otherwise, he was acting like normal, telling Naruto which hood ornaments we would and would not allow as per their agreement the last time they had gone out on a date.

Like last time, they had gone to park Sasuke's car in a nearby parking garage, but this time the guys working there had recognized Sasuke somehow and had eagerly offered to park his car.

Sasuke agreed, but had warned them in a chilling voice that he would not allow for any '_funny_' business, like joy rides or power outages.

The poor guys looked like they were going to pee their pants in Sasuke continued glaring at them, so Naruto—slightly angling himself behind Sasuke so the strangers would not point out his bandages—pulled Sasuke away so they could go to the restaurant.

Apparently, Sasuke had made a reservation when Naruto wasn't paying attention, so they did not have to wait in order to get a table, a booth in the back; away from most other people so they wouldn't be able to stare at Naruto's bandages.

It turned out that their waitress was the owner's daughter, Ayame, who had remembered them—Naruto—from the last time they had visited.

Naruto smiled widely when he recognized her and immediately ordered the house special while Sasuke ordered a simple salad, both happy that Ayame had not mentioned Naruto's bandages.

Naruto only needed one word to describe how dinner was: orgasmic.

The food was beyond delicious; it was like the god of ramen was blessing his taste buds with his tears of ramen-y joy!

And the owner, Teuchi, had remembered them and had delivered Naruto's tenth bowl like last time, and had once again put it on the house! Naruto knew for a fact that this was deeeefinitely his favoritest place after home!

After their dinner was all done and paid for, the two left quite satisfied; well, Naruto was anyways.

It was dark by the time they were walking back to the garage, so Sasuke automatically held onto Naruto's hand as a gesture of comfort.

Truth be told, Naruto was very nervous. He was going to take a very large leap of faith; exposing himself in a way. He had never done anything remotely like this in the past so the closer and closer he got to it, the more nervous he got.

Suddenly, Naruto stopped.

Clearly expecting the worst, Sasuke immediately backed up a little—still grasping Naruto's hand—so that he was directly in front of Naruto and had started to look around for whatever he thought had scared Naruto.

Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, Sasuke turned around to face the blonde and asked, "Is anything wrong?"

Shaking his head in the negative, asked in return, "Do you recognize this area?"

Not expecting that, Sasuke looked a little confused—for Sasuke anyways—and looked around.

Naruto watched Sasuke's expression as recognition flooded those features.

"This is where you and Suigetsu were abducted." Sasuke answered in a low tone, anger aimed towards First Master laced in every syllable.

Expecting this reaction, Naruto gave a small smile and confirmed, "Yeah, just by that pole." He pointed towards the pole a few feet in front of them.

Sasuke glared at it as if it had insulted his mother. Then he turned back to Naruto and asked, "Does this area bother you?"

Naruto averted his eyes and answered, "Not really," hugging himself slightly.

He heard Sasuke give a small sigh and step towards him, but he stepped back and shook his head; he needed to say what he was going to say by himself, without any comfort or help. Besides, it would be kinda awkward to say the source of his nervousness in Sasuke's arms, not to mention embarrassing.

Sasuke stopped and gave him a—Sasuke version of a—confused expression.

Naruto took in a deep breath before continuing, "It was. . .scary as hell to be taken back. . ._there_. I. . .I never thought that Fir—_he_ would take me back. It. . .wasn't pleasant being back there. It brought back all the memories of what _he_did when he was my M-M. . .Master." Naruto shuddered at the mere word.

Then he redirected his attention towards Sasuke, "But during that time when I was back _there_, it was slightly okay, because I kept telling myself that you were coming to get me. . .it brought me more comfort than you could imagine to know that for once, things were not hopeless and that death or severe mutilation were not the only options out of that hell."

Naruto took in a deep breath to calm himself, "Th-the best source of-of comfort was knowing th-that-that the one th-that I l-love was coming to save me."

Since Naruto was watching Sasuke's expression, he saw exactly how it had frozen when he said the 'L-word'.

Not one for awkward silences, Naruto hurried to fill the gap, "And I'm not just saying that because of adrenaline or whatever they say in the movies. It's the real deal! Because, you're the nicest person I have ever known! You really care about me, like _really_ care. You have never pushed me further than my limits, even during that weird time after you scared the crap outa me when you beat up Suigetsu, though in hindsight I can say that he kinda sorta deserved a punch to the head, but you took it to the extreme, dude! And you are also sappy as hell. I still have that letter you gave me the first time you had Hinata serve me lunch during that weird period, that was labeled '_Love, Sasuke_'. And you are always so sure of yourself, even in weird romance thingies like with me considering you fell hard when you barely even knew me. Not that I'm complainin' or anything, because that helped me fall in love with y—"

Naruto was cut off by a pair of lips gently pressing themselves against his own while his body was pulled into a tight embrace.

After the lips had left him, Naruto was in a daze, "S-Sasuke?" he asked, blinking at him.

What he saw was the most emotion he had ever seen in Sasuke's eyes, but the most overpowering one he saw was happiness; pure happiness.

Sasuke smiled a true smile, pressed his lips against Naruto's forehead and whispered, "And I love you, my angel."

Naruto smiled back up at the person he could officially call the love of his life.

He was finally loved, and he was finally safe in his love's arms.

He couldn't be happier.

**The End**

* * *

><p><strong>And that was the story!<strong>

**Phew! That took way longer than I expected to write. I was literally stuck on one portion of the chapter for literally a week. Of course, new course loads don't exactly help the process, but whatevs.**

**Yes, this IS the last chapter of _Enslaved Angel_. I will probably write an epilogue of sorts, but now that the story is over and there are other stories of mine to be paid attention to, it won't be for awhile.**

**But for those who enjoy a little background about stories: HERE'S A BONUS NOTE!**

**The original concept of the story was literally an Okane no Gai knockoff, but how it should have been in my mind. Don't get me wrong, the smex there is kinky and stuff, but for my first published work of mine, I did not want any serious lemon in this story. But as soon as I wrote Suigetsu's part, my concept of the story changed. Back then, I had no outline so it was go with the flow and I decided that it flowed to a more recovery-y direction so I gave Naruto a non-smexual reason to fear Sasuke. And it grew from there to the story you have just finished!**

**And another side note, the original name I have in my story notes is "_The Angel Slave_". I was seriously debating between those two names right up until publishing, when I just chose the shorter of the two and voila! _"Enslaved Angel"_! The same goes with naming the chapters, except without an extra name for debate. Then I couldn't escape naming the chapters! WHICH I HATE!**

**So anyways, hope you enjoyed the story! Thank you so much for sticking with me for so long! Love ya!**


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